A History of Theatre

A HISTORY OF THEATRE
PART I
Ancient Theatre - Roots
Introduction
When the first human being dropped out of a tree or woke up in Eden, looked around and saw
another human being, at that moment theatre was born. The urge to communicate to others, to
share an experience and to stimulate a reaction in others, all these basic urges lie at the heart
of theatre.
Humans tried to bring order and gain empowerment over their lives and their environment in
the face of a seemingly chaotic universe filled with awesome powers. By taking on the
appearance of other beings and forces, by moving their movements and sounding their
sounds, the human could understand another being by becoming one. This process of
becoming another being gave them a sense of power and a belief that they understood the
being they became.
Gradually groups of people banded together into tribes. Tribes coalesced into peoples. Slowly,
and with great difficulty, they came to understand agriculture and husbandry. They discovered
the possibilities of shaping and manipulating wood, rock and metals. They come to know fire
and how it could change mud into pottery and sand into glass.
Finally, they discovered the secrets of a heat so great that lumps of metallic rock could be
transformed into metals. With metal, heat, and a great deal of effort, all sorts of useful and
beautiful things could be made, swords, ploughshares and statues. With this knowledge and
these skills, peoples became nations and began to build cities and establish what we now call
civilizations.
As civilizations come into being it became necessary for the rulers and priests to
communicate to their people. Kings need to share their dreams of conquest and desires for
prosperity and order with their subjects. Priests need to stimulate their flocks to obedience and
worship the awesome power of their gods. Theatre provides the obvious means to accomplish
these goals.
It is only with the rise of a small, aggressive, independent minded people, known as the
Greeks, that theatre is taken out of the hands of priests and kings and given to the people. For
the first time in human history, theatre is given a place of its own and a function to serve the
whole society. Four great playwrights use that place and fill that function so well that their
works continue to work their magic through succeeding civilizations down to the present day.
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The theatre might have been lost in the mists of time and distance were it not for one other
passionate people, the Romans. After the decline in prosperity and influence of Greece, the
Macedonion General Alexander plants theaters and Greek plays from India to Spain. The
breakup of Alexander's empire leaves Rome to pick up the pieces. Rome carries Greek ideas
and Greek theatre from Africa to England and from Spain to Germany. The Romans plant
theatre so widely and so deeply in the territory they conquer, that it is able to survive the long
Dark Ages of social disintegration and economic dissolution. In the Middle Ages, the theatre
remerges under the protection of the Church, gradually moving out on its own. Finally, theatre
will rise again in all its many forms with the rise of humanism. It will again escape the hands
of kings and priests and belong to the people.
CHAPTER ONE..................................Before the Ionians [sample chapter - ChapOne]
CHAPTER TWO..................................The Greeks Theatre Is Born In Athens - Chapter Two
CHAPTER THREE................................The Hellenistic World Through Alexander, Theatre
Spreads Throughout The Known World - chap3
CHAPTER FOUR.................................The Romans From Greek Imitations Through
Technical Innovation - chap4
CHAPTER FIVE.................................After The Fall The Dark Ages and Why They Aren't So
Dark chap5
CHAPTER SIX..................................Into The Middle Ages chap6
next Chapter One or PartTwo

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CHAPTER ONE
Before the Ionians
Introduction
When the first truly human trait appeared, the need and the urge to communicate something
beyond pointing to an object, we learned to show and tell. Human communication grew on the
development of symbols, something that conveys more meaning than just a sign. With a
growing repertoire of symbols, visual and spoken, we moved down the path of being human.
Long before the first appearance of the human activity we call theatre, there was the
development of theatrical elements. These elements seem to be central to the human
experience. The primary theatrical element is difficult to describe, but it involves the
awareness of a power beyond the visible world and the invoking, embodying and
manipulating of that power. For convenience we can call this element "magic."
The other elements are easy to understand. Everyone, regardless of the society they grow up
in, plays at being someone else, seeks out and wears costumes, loves masks and disguises,
practices and does special gestures, movements and dance. Everyone enjoys activities that
make use of these elements, especially when they are done with a group.
As human history emerged from the mists of pre-recorded history and into recorded time we
find any number of places where theatrical elements are coming together and becoming more
sophisticated and organized. While there are undoubtedly many occasions when these come
together among the common people, at their celebrations and festivals, written records deal
only with those that involve rulers and priests. The most extensive records we know of at this
time come to us from Egypt.
While these ancient civilizations left extensive records, written and drawn in great detail,
other Mediterranean societies were developing, flourishing and changing. These other
societies left very little in the way of written records, but their characteristics, gods, heroes
and myths came down to the Greeks who would develop the theatre we know.
The Tap Root: Play
PLAY IS MORE THAN " SHOW AND TELL" As a number of people have said, play is
older than culture and whatever else theatre may be, it is certainly a play activity.
Play brings order out of chaos. There is nothing ordinary or "real" about play. It is a voluntary
and conscious stepping outside chaotic and uncertain real life into a very special world of
order with rules all its own. Although play doesn't put food on the table or a roof over your
head it does seem to be a human necessity. In some way play makes real life meaningful.
Through play a society expresses and affirms its identity, values, ideals and ways of doing
things because all play means something. In this way play contributes to the well-being of the
society or the group. It establishes and reaffirms the identity of the society. In this way it is
essential and more important to the group than food, shelter or survival.
Play can only be understood as a totality with its own rules, its own time and space. Every
kind of play has its own playing field and a definite beginning and end to the play activity.
Inside the activity there is a very special and absolute order which creates a limited perfection.
To be able to play, the players must play by the rules and this creates tension. In play the
courage, tenacity, resources, and, above all, the player's sense of fairness are tested to the
limits.
After the game is over those who have been players are a community. This sense of
community, based on the feelings of shared experience, being apart together in an exceptional
situation, binds the group together. It makes the magic of the experience last long after the
play activity is over. Permanent social groupings are dependent on such play activities to keep
alive the specialness of the group and the meanings central to it.
Playing isn't just "pretend" but an exciting, absorbing, rapturous and intense involvement in
something meaningful and satisfying. Players believe in their play. That is the basic law of
play. It requires unquestioning belief. In playing, the laws and customs of everyday life don't
count. The players are different than they are in real life, and they do things differently.
The differentness of the player is obvious in "dressing up," masks and disguises. A disguised
or masked individual plays another part. They become another being. Often this being is more
terrible or more beautiful, and more powerful, than any human could be. The player uses their
imagination, makes an image and identifies with that image. Something invisible takes form.
Playing involves actions. The meaning of the play can be found in the acting out of the
intentions and interactions of the players within the rules of the game. The actions make a
complete and meaningful pattern. When the pattern is complete, the activity is over.
Magic
A human being experiences the real world as a chaotic and confusing place. There are
powerful forces at work every where. Sun, wind, storm, tides, volcanoes, earthquakes, all the
forces of nature happen without visible cause. Plants, animals and human beings are born,
grow and die, without visible cause. Edible plants, animals to hunt, appear and disappear with
no discernible cause. In order to survive, humans had to learn about cause and effect where
that was possible. They also had to come up with some way of dealing with all the forces
which seemed to have no visible cause.
One way of dealing with these mysterious forces was through play. Wherever these forces
came from, they were not "here" in this real world, but, through play, they could be imagined,
made into an image and brought into the play world. If you wanted a herd of antelope to come
near enough to be hunted you could disguise yourself as an antelope, move like an antelope,
become an antelope. By becoming an antelope the player could come to understand the forces
that moved the antelope and work to bring that quarry near. In becoming another being, the
player had to temporarily give up their own identity, their own personhood which existed
outside the play, and permit themselves to be taken over. The player is "seized," by the force
or the spirit of the being they had to become. Other players believe that the force has appeared
among them. They witness the force acting upon themselves and upon other beings. They
have witnessed power and they have made magic together. In this way the playing has served
the group and the society. They will carry their knowledge and confidence into the real world
and the real hunt.
More Than Hunting
Most of what we know about early societies is about hunting and gathering food. Not only do
we have cave paintings and hunting tools from thousands of years ago, we also have a few
societies in New Guinea, South America and Australia where we can see people who are still
engaged in these activities. We can also see the play activities, the rites and rituals, which
these societies perform in relation to acquiring food.
There are other human concerns of these early people and their behavior in relation to these is
more difficult to understand. Fertility of the plants, the animals and humans is one of the
major concerns. We know that there are any number of rites and rituals relating to fertility.
The number of studies done and books written on this subject fill whole libraries.
We can visit the Hopi or Zuni Indians in Arizona and witness the Kachina dances, but our
society is so different from theirs that we can understand very little of the real meaning in
these performances. We cannot witness these, we can only see them. To truly be a witness
requires that we also be a player, and that we know the rules and understand the real meaning
of what we see and hear.
Rites and rituals relating to human fertility are even farther from our understanding. Today we
know too much about the technical details of cause and effect to understand the point of view
of people thousands of years ago. We have found thousands of "fertility" statues and dolls
which were made at different times and in different places all over the world. We know
nothing of what they meant or how they related to the societies that produced them. It is
generally agreed that they have some relation to what is generally called the "Mother"
religion, but we know nothing of the rites and rituals which these numerous societies
performed. Being human ourselves, we can imagine they were concerned with invoking
forces and powers to ensure that the women of that society gave birth to many healthy babies
and that the health and well being of all the members of the society was promoted and
protected. Other rites and rituals dealt with the mystery of death. We find this much easier to
understand because we still have our own rites and rituals concerning death.
The Hero
One of the interesting aspects of early rituals dealing with death leads down through
thousands of years and into recorded history. It also directly affects the development of
theatre. This aspect concerns the notion of what we have come to call the hero. There have
been any number of books and articles written on the subject of the hero. This, alone, tells us
the subject is regarded as important. There are, however, a few things that can be said as a
starting point.
A hero is defined by the society in which it occurs. The gender of a hero is determined by the
characteristics the society wants to embody. It is only later that we begin to use the term
"heroine" to identify a female hero and often "heroine" is used simply to identify the female
with whom the hero is involved. Consequently, it will be less confusing if the term hero is
understood to apply to a female, a male, a god or any other creature who embodies the
characteristics which a particular society regards as important and central to their value
system. The characteristics which define a hero come from two sources.
First, the hero is the central figure in the action. As we noted earlier, the player who becomes
the dominant force, or embodies the particular power which is central to the play action, is the
key to understanding the meaning of the action. No doubt, in prehistory, the member of
society who played this hero role was the high priest or shaman. Naturally the spiritual leader
of a society was more likely to be in closer touch with the invisible world than someone else.
Later, when society was more highly organized, the ruler (King, Pharaoh, whatever the title)
would be the hero of those activities which concerned governing, ruling, and even military
matters.
The second source of the hero is related to the death rituals referred to above. When the
individual who died was considered by the society to have been a particularly admirable
person; someone who had lived a life that exemplified the best traits of the society; or,
someone who had done deeds that greatly benefited the society; that person would be
remembered as a hero. That individual would become the central character in play activities in
which that person's deeds were reproduced. This would provide an understanding of why and
how those deeds were important. Sometimes that person would be the central figure in
activities that dealt with new challenges that faced the society. In these the character of the
hero would provide insights into how society might deal with such challenges.
Quite distinct from these two sources of the hero was the development of the comic hero. This
figure appeared in other rituals concerning social manners, mores and common matters of the
community. There were two kinds of comic hero. The most popular one was the "bad guy"
who got his just deserts. This kind would embody the society's view of those characteristics
which were unpopular and unacceptable behavior. These heroes would engage in actions
rejected by the society and would meet with terrible and funny consequences.
The other comic hero was the typical citizen who encountered the typical range of misfortune
and disaster and made the typical mistakes in everything they did. This comic hero always
managed to bounce back from every catastrophe and, usually by good luck rather than skill,
come out on top at the end. We know almost nothing of the historical development of the
comic heroes and their actions. When we reach historical times and recorded events, they
appear fully developed in many cultures. We will meet they later under the name of farces in
Ancient Greece and Etrusca. What is most relevant about heroes, comic and serious, is how
they embody the primary concerns of the society in which they appear. When these concerns
are shared by other societies in other times and places, these heroes will be used again.
The TIMELINE for pre-history:
ca. 9,000 BCE the earliest evidence of the city of Catal Huyuk
ca. 6,250 to 5,000 BCE the city of Catal Huyuk flourishes
8,350 - 7,350 BCE the city of Jericho flourishes
7,000 BCE early copper
6,000 BCE first known pottery and woolen textiles
5,000 BCE to 4,000 BCE sophisticated copper work
[traditional date of creation for Creationists falls in here]
4,000 BCE Bronze casting and first use of plough
3,500 BCE Megalith tombs in British Isles, Brittany, Iberian peninsula invention of wheel,
plough and sail (Near East)
3100 BCE pictograph writing
3000 BCE development of major cities in Near East
Historical Times
The Rise of The Highly Organized Societies Cities And Dynastic Rulers
The emergence of the first civilizations marks a new phase of world history. They arose
almost simultaneously in four different areas of the world, apparently unconnected with each
other. Two of these areas, the Indus valley on the Indian subcontinent and the Yellow River in
China, are not directly relevant here since they had no known connection with, or influence
on, the development of theatre in the west. The other two, in the lower Tigris and Euphrates
valleys and the valley of the Nile, are relevant. These cradles of civilization and the many
societies that grew up in and around them directly affected the rise of theatre and the society
that gave it birth. The characteristic feature of these civilizations was the city.
Interestingly enough, the earliest cities we know anything about (Jericho in Palestine and
Catal Huyuk on the Anatolian plain of Turkey) are not located in either of these cradles of
civilization. These two cities are relics of civilizations we know very little about and are
useful here only as reference points in time which reveal human society in command of metal
working, highly organized, with wide spread commerce and a social organization capable of
building extensive cities. It is only after the development of writing that we are able to
discover details about Egypt and the Middle East, as well as other societies that rose and fell
throughout these centers and around the Mediterranean.
The city became an increasingly dominant social form of organizing people. A city meant a
complex division of labor, a literate priesthood to keep track of things, monumental public
buildings, political and religious hierarchies, a divine kingship and some sort of an empire to
supply the needs of the city.
There are two important thing we know about these societies: first, none of them developed
theatre; second, as time passed all of them developed the full range of theatrical elements
needed for the birth of theatre. Knowing something about the societies in which theatre does
not develop enables us to better understand what theatre is and how it relates to those other
societies in which it does appear.
The most obvious characteristic of these civilizations, that seems to preclude the development
of theatre, is religion. If the ruler is descended from the gods and only the priesthood is
literate then these two segments of the society have a monopoly on direct access to the
supernatural powers and to communication with them. In order to maintain their power and
authority they will tend to be ruthless and their gods will demand strict obedience and great
sacrifice from the rest of the population. The municipal buildings will be primarily temples
and residences of the king and the priesthood.
These highly structured societies use rituals to demonstrate and confirm the power of the king
and priests to the population. They develop elaborate costumes, use masks and make-up, carry
symbols of authority ("props"), appear in, and in front of, spectacular architecture and
decorations (scenery), engage in complex rites and rituals (plots) involving significant actions
that reveal the awesomeness of their power.
Memphite Sacred Drama
ca. 3100 BCE Memphite Drama (Coronation Festival Play)
We can learn something of what these religious and political rituals were like from some
"dramatic" texts, especially the Egyptian writings, including the so-called " Memphite
Creation Play."*
The text contains a "presenter"'s narrative and a libretto, or sequence of dialog, of a sacred
drama. The drama opens with a fight, combat or "contest", between two Egyptian gods, Horus
and Set, followed by Horus' accession to the Kingship of the Upper and Lower Egypt, which
is followed by the death and resurrection of another god, Osiris. The drama is followed in the
text by a hymn to the prime god of the city Memphis, Ptah.
This text was apparently used at the annual festival on the first day of spring. The festival
celebrated the seasonal cycle of death and rebirth (death in winter and rebirth in spring). It put
special emphasis on the death and resurrection of Osiris and on the coronation of the king as
the symbol of the regenerated community. The king was identified with the god Horus and
was descended from him. At another Egyptian city, Edfu, the festival drama was known as the
"New Year of Horus". Both dramas featured combat between two teams.
The combat between Horus and Set is the typical ritual combat between all of the opposites:
the old year and the new, summer and winter, life and death, rain and drought, etc. The death
and rebirth of Osiris reinstates the king for another year. The plot or pattern of action is
typical of many sacred dramas and can be useful here as a plot outline to compare with later
real plays.
ACT ONE: COMBAT There is a fight between Horus and Set. The Holy Family of the Nine
Great Gods persuades Geb, the god of the earth, to stop the fight. Geb makes Set king of
Upper Egypt and Horus king of Lower Egypt.
ACT TWO: UNIFICATION AND CORONATION Geb resents Set and makes his own son,
Horus, king of both, uniting the two Egypts. The king is coronated as the embodiment of
Horus and "sole inheritor" of the united land.
ACT THREE: DEATH AND REBIRTH Set attacks Osiris and he lies in the reeds, by the
water's edge, on the point of death. His wife, Isis, son Horus and Nephthys rescue him and
bring him back to life.
ACT FOUR: THE KING IS INSTALLED IN A NEWLY CONSTRUCTED PALACE This
involves a procession to the new palace and the installation of the king.
ACT FIVE: THE DISSENSIONS IN THE LAND ARE RESOLVED AND ORDER IS
ESTABLISHED Set is reconciled with Horus. All strife ceases. Continued prosperity is
established. Everybody apparently shakes hands and makes up. the last line is "...wipe away
the tear from every face..."*
ACT SIX: PROCESSION INTO THE CITY The text of this is lost but it seems to praise the
city and confirm the rule of the king over the city.
EPILOG: A HYMN TO PTAH A hymn of praise to the patron god of the city of Memphis. It
emphasizes the connections between the gods and between the gods and the king. It praises
the city as being the special care of Ptah.
Societies progress and ca. 2500 BCE there is evidence of early copper culture in the
Mediterranean islands. At the same time (about six hundred years after the Memphis play)
there is another similar theatrical activity, the Abydos Passion Play. This play is obviously
performed for a very long time, because ca. 1868 BCE, we hear about an actor, I-Kher-nefret,
who plays the leading role in Abydos.
Wrapup
By this point in time we have all the theatrical elements needed to create real theatre. The plot
which centers on conflict and ends with a resolution of all major conflicts, dialog, characters,
thought, scenery, props, masks or make-up and architecture for a public assembly. We also
have well organized societies with large populations, good prosperity and large buildings. The
only thing missing is a desire on the part of the society for theatrical activities apart from their
political and religious dramas. This is a situation which will reccur much later, in Medieval
times.
The Mediterranean World
That The Ionions Came Into
The Mediterranean world was a busy place with all sorts of folks coming and going. People
(ethnic and linguistic groups) were constantly moving into the built up parts, settled in
unoccupied places, fighting each other, conquering or being conquered, taking captives for
slaves or being enslaved and generally keeping the whole eastern end of the Mediterranean
humming.
Meanwhile there were adventurous merchant types who sailed all over the Sea, and probably
ventured out into the Atlantic, buying goods in one place and selling them in others. A recent
shipwreck found off the coast of Turkey dates from around 4000 BCE and was filled with
goods imported from around the coast from Egypt to Greece.
Changing copper into bronze by adding a little tin had greatly improved the metals market by
3000 BCE. and a small multinational area blossomed in and around the Mediterranean sea.
Trade came from as far away as India. One of the societies central to this vigorous trade was
the Minoans.
The Minoans
Beginning about 3000 BCE
In the eastern end of the Mediterranean a civilization began to develop centered on the island
of Crete. It's only recently that we've found out enough about these people, the Minoans, to
learn something of their place in the development of the later cultures of Greece.
The mountainous island of Crete lies at the southern edge of the Aegean Islands, a chain of
islands linking Greece with the Turkish mainland. South of Crete there is nothing but sea until
you reach the African coast. At this point in time, when most sailing vessels hugged the coast,
Crete was fairly remote from Egypt, the nearest civilized power.
Neolithic ancestors of the Minoans arrived by sea and became a great seafaring people with
Crete as the center of their empire. Their civilization was rich and powerful. Even Egypt
regarded them as visiting foreigners (rather than vassal states) to the Egyptian court. This is at
a time when Egypt has a tendency to conquer any prosperous civilization it could reach. The
Minoans developed their own form of writing, were renowned all over the Mediterranean for
their craftsmanship in pottery, all kinds of metal work, carpentry, weaving and all varieties of
manufactured goods. They exported perfume, olive oil and grain. They were famous as a
center of worship of the Mother goddess and for their athletic bull dancing.
The symbol of the bull, the strange athletic activity of bull-leaping and the myth of the
monster bull in the palace maze, all may owe something to the prevalence of earthquakes in
the area. One of the most prominent archeologists on Crete, Sir Arthur Evans, describes the
sound of an earthquake he experienced there as being like the muffled roar of an angry bull*.
Of the more than ninety cities on Crete, the capital, Knossos was the most beautiful and
extensive. Even the plumbing was exceptional.
A number of aspects of the Minoan culture would be transmitted down to the Greeks. The
Minoan version of the Mother goddess seems to have migrated to Greece Two familiar myths
of the Greeks tell of this civilization. The first concerns the king of the Greek gods, Zeus, who
was supposedly born on Crete's Mount Ida and had his tomb there on Mount Juktas. Zeus, in
the shape of a bull, pursued the beautiful girl, Europa, and carried her on his back to Crete.
There he seduced her and she gave birth to three sons, one of whom, Minos, became the king
of Crete.
The second legend concerns the Greek hero Theseus. Athens sent seven youths and seven
maidens as tribute to King Minos every nine years. These were given to the monster, part bull,
part man, which King Minos kept in the labyrinth of his palace. One year Theseus chose to go
as one of the youths. Ariadne, daughter of Minos, fell in love with Theseus and gave him a
ball of thread to unravel as he went into the labyrinth. He killed the monster and fled with the
girl. Later plays of the classical Greek period include stories of Theseus and his later wife,
Phaedra. These myths and many of the splendid products of the Minoan culture made their
way to Greece by way of another obscure group of people, the Mycenaeans.
The Mycenaeans
Mycenae 1600-1100 BCE
Direct Predecessors And Source Of Heroes And Plots
Outside Athens there is evidence of an early fortified town that dates back to at least 2000
BCE. Other Mycenaean towns are even older. Between 2000 and 1700 BCE the mainland of
Greece was invaded by waves of the first Greek-speaking peoples. They came, apparently,
from Anatolia and conquered Troy at the same time, settling there about 1950 BCE. These
immigrants came under the influence of the Minoans of Crete.
Mycenae reveals a fascinating mixture of the civilized and the barbaric in its culture. Their
architecture was far from sophisticated. Some of their metalwork seems to come from the
Caucasus or the northern steppes. The horse-drawn chariots come from western Asia and
there are remains of trade goods, such as amber beads, from the Baltic. The more
sophisticated goods found in their graves came from Crete, especially gold and bronze
jewelry, weapons and armor.
We have no written record of Mycenae but they had, as did many other cultures, a strong oral
tradition. Oral tradition rested in a special class who were trained from early youth to
memorize very long passages of history, legends and tales of heroes. These Bards would
recite or sing passages at special events and for the entertainment of the king and the people.
We know a great deal about the work and tradition of the Bard from other cultures: the Celts,
particularly the Irish; and the Scandanavian, especially the Norse.
The Mycenaeans seem to have been in a close trading relationship with Crete and apparently
worshiped the Cretan Mother goddess. What we know about this culture comes from
archeological study and the later Greek writings when the main body of their oral traditions
were written down.
We do know that there were two massive natural disasters that completely changed the
cultures of Minoa and Mycaena. The first, and earliest, directly affected the Minoans.
Somewhere between 1500 and 1450 BCE there was a cataclysmic volcanic eruption and
accompanying earthquakes which almost completely obliterated the island of Thera sending
clouds of volcanic ash into the atmosphere to circle the globe for years.
Thera was some miles due north of Crete and was the religious center of the worship of the
Mother goddess. Most of the buildings on Crete were destroyed by this event although the
main palace at Knossos survived to be burned at a later date. Much later the Greeks would
attribute this kind of event to Poseiden the "earth-shaker". The Minoan civilization limped
along for another few hundred years but mainly in the hands of new immigrants and invaders.
The glory that was Crete at the height of its powers was gone as * ca. 1450 BCE marks the
end of Minoan civilization. This left a power vacuum in the Aegean sea and the Mycenaeans
rapidly moved in to fill it.
Everything we know about the people and events of the Mycenaean period come from later
writings in classical Greece. The accuracy of these accounts, five hundred to a thousand years
after the people lived and events transpired, is fantastically accurate. The faithfulness of the
bards is uncanny. Rooms, furniture, shield and armor have been found in places and dated to
times that match exactly the stories. It was, in fact, these stories which led men to search in
the right places, dig, and recover all of the archeological material we know of today.
The Mycenaean society resembled the despotic kingdoms of the Near East much more than it
did the later Greek city-states. There are records from Crete under the Mycenaean rule that
tell a great deal about the economy and commerce of these people. There are lists of the king's
possessions, women engaged in weaving and supplies brought in for the manufacture of
perfumed oil.
The Mycenaean seem to have brought their own gods with them, It is from this society that
we first hear of the gods of Mount Olympus, Zeus, their king, and the multitude of other gods,
demigods and the humans they interacted with. The pantheon of gods, their history and
escapades is much too involved and lengthy to go into here. It is a marvelous story all its own,
but, as it leads to the theatre works of the Greeks, we need to know that the story begins here.
Greek Mythology of Gods and original creation - CHAOS - primeval state of confusion and
shapelessness GE or GAEA - mother earth, who emerged from Chaos, nourishes all life,
receives all in death, mother of numerous offspring
First Generation of Gods: URANUS, heaven, son of Gaea, rules with her, he ruled heaven,
she ruled earth - they produced a large number of offspring - the most important were the
TITANS, these were exceptionally strong and personified natural forces. OCEANUS (a river
encircling earth) RHEA (agriculture) CRONUS (cyclical agricultural time) IAPETUS
(volcanoes) PROMETHEUS fore-thinker ATLAS strength
Here, too, we find all the great heroes, the royal houses and the mighty and tragic events that
make up the body of Greek legend and form the basis for almost all the great Greek tragedies.
Many of these are to be found in the stories about the greatest Mycenaean event, the Trojan
War Others dealt with Kings and events from an earlier period. Theseus, for example,
mentioned above in relation to the Minos Bull monster, become king of Athens on the death
of his father Aegeus. There are a number of legends about this family.
Oedipus and his relatives come to us from this period. The major players of the Trojan war
who ruled the various parts of Mycenae provide a number of plots and characters. The leader
of the Greek host, Agamemnon, shows up as the starting point of the great Aeschylean
trilogy, the Oresteia.
It is very unclear what happened to wipe out this culture that had taken over the rich trade of
the Minoans and enlarged it. There are several factors we do know about which must have
contributed to their decline.
First was the Trojan War which definitely seems to have taken place, although we are not
quite sure when. Troy, on the northwestern coast of Turkey, had moved in to fill the power
vacuum left by the collapse of the Hittite kingdom. Placed, as it was, on the crossroads of
trade from the north and trade from the east, it had grown fat and led a confederacy to rival
the Mycenaeans. There was extensive trade between them. The abduction of Helen, wife of
the Mycenaean Menelaeus (brother of Agamemnon) may or may not have actually occurred.
If so, it was probably a useful pretext to launch a war of plunder on a city renowned for its
gold. There is a suspiciously similar story from an earlier date in Canaanite literature.
However it began, the Trojan War debilitated the victors as well as destroying Troy At
roughly the same time a strange bunch known simply as the Sea Peoples invaded the Syrian
coast and cut off much of the Mycenaean trade with Asia. This no doubt led to an even greater
economic depression. And, if this wasn't enough, a really rugged group of barbarians know as
the Dorians, also Greek speaking, began overrunning Greece from the north around 1150
BCE
The natural event which may have precipitated these migrations was a change in the weather.
In the Aegean the weather took a turn for the impossible. The stony, mountainous land of
Greece had never been an agricultural bread basket, but it had sufficient rain and good
growing weather for millennia to provide for a rising population. Suddenly, around 1200 BCE
there was a drop in world temperature and the weather pattern changed over Europe. The
Atlantic storm track, which had previously brought satisfactory rainfall to Eastern Greece,
moved north and began to inundate the Hungarian plain. The Mediterranean storm track
bumped up against the mountain spine of Greece and dropped all its moisture on the western
slopes. The main area of Myceanae went into a severe drought, along with all of the Aegean,
Macedonia and Turkey. The drought would last for almost a hundred years and the
Mycenaeans disappeared without a trace.
Briefly, let's recap the timeline of current events: ca.1200 BCE there is a big change in the
weather invasions of "Sea Peoples" into Mediterranean disruption of tin trade and a switch
from bronze to IRON beginning of Jewish Religion collapse of Hittite Empire Mycenean
civilization collapses c.1100 BCE Final destruction of Mycenae and the appearance of early
city-states ruled by kings accompanies the Dorian move down through Greece into the
Peloponnese
At the end of the Bronze Age a bunch of barbarous peoples overrun the Mycenaean and
Hittite civilizations. The Mycenaean refugees escaped over seas.
The entire Aegean plunges into a Dark Age. Migrations increase and we finally see the
appearance of the really bright wing of the Greek speaking people, the Ionians, who start
migrations into Asia Minor between 1100 and 1000 BCE Somehow the history and the oral
tradition of the Mycenaeans survive through the bards, and both the Dorians and the Ionians
really take it to heart as their own. After all, it is in Greek.
1100 to 1000 BCE The Ionian Greeks migrate south and west, to Ionia. The people who will
be known as the Etruscans arrive in Italy. The Phonecians spread throughout Mediterranean.
c.1100 - c.800 BCE DARK AGE Finally, the weather in eastern Greece, the Aegean and Asia
Minor returns to normal rainfall. The art of writing has been lost among the Greeks and when
writing reemerges it is a diffrent form, recognizable as ancient Greek. 900 BCE Dorian Greek
migrations to Aegean islands and Asia Minor
Homer
All of which leads to a rather misty character called Homer. Misty because no one is really
sure that there was such a person. It may be that there were a number of writers, or there
really may have been such a man. Whatever the case, sometime around 800 and 700 BCE,
Homer composes the world's two greatest epics about the Trojan War, the Iliad and the
Odyssey. The works are obviously Ionian and infinitely superior in literary value to anything
else that survives from the whole period. Western literature begins with Homer. He lived on
the Ionian coast of Asia Minor, probably in Smyrna or Chios. He was said to be blind. Epics
are long narrative poems written in a dignified style about really important and majestic
themes. They concern the doings of the culture's heroes from early times. Usually they deal
with that part of the legendary past that the people want to remember and want as a model for
society now. Of course, they include a lot about the influence of the gods.
Greek Mythology of Gods - the Second Generation The Titan children of Uranus rebel and
depose him from power and begin to run things themselves headed by CRONUS and RHEA
who produce more children:
HESTIA (fire of the hearth) HADES (underworld) DEMETER (grain and agriculture)
POSEIDON (sea and horses) HERA (patron of marriage) ZEUS (intelligence, sky and
storms). Greek Mythology of Gods the Third Generation Another rebellion led by Zeus
results in a battle between Titans and Gods, between intelligence and brute strength. Zeus and
his generation win and reorganize running the universe. The result is that Cronus is banished
along with all but three of the Titans. These are:
Atlas who is assigned to hold up the heavens, Oceanus who has been neutral Prometheus who
sided with Zeus (and who approves intelligence and opposes force and brings fire to
mankind.) The victors divide up the universe. Of the twelve leaders, Zeus gets the sky,
Poseidon the sea, Hades the underworld, and all take an interest in earth. This newest group is
called the "Olympian gods," after Mount Olympus where they supposedly dwell. They each
have particular spheres of power. The Twelve Olympians ZEUS king of gods HERA patron
of marriage HESTIA domestic life DEMETER grain, agriculture POSEIDON sea, horses
HEPHAESTUS fire, smith of gods ARES offensive war APHRODITE love beauty, fertility
ATHENA wisdom, defensive war, HERMES cunning, messenger of gods, god of thieves, etc.
APPOLO sun, music, prophecy, archery, medicine ARTEMIS hunting, wild animals, moon,
childbirth
The Iliad
This epic deals with events personalities and gods on the Greek side involved in forty-seven
days in the tenth year of the Trojan War. It is necessary to be familiar with who the characters
are, who the gods are, and what has happened to start the war and for the past ten years. All
that is a bit much to cover here, but since the Greek period is based on the doings of many of
these episodes we will take a quick look at the major players.
TROY (Ilium) - Ruled by King Priam, his wife Hecuba, their sons Paris and Hector, his wife
Andromache, their infant son Astyanax; Priam's son-in-law Aeneas, Priam's daughter
Cassandra, a priestess of Apollo and a prophetess. These were the main players on the Trojan
side. The allies of Troy in this war were Pandarus, Sarpedon and Glaucus from Lycia. The
ACHAEANS (Greeks) - This group was more complicated since it was made up of leaders
and heroes from a number of places, a sort of United Nations force from all over Greece.
They weren't too happy working together, but reluctantly agreed to let Agamemnon (King of
Mycenae) lead the coalition. He was regarded as the best general. The other prominent leaders
were Menelaus, his brother, King of Sparta and husband of the abducted Helen (the one
blamed for the whole thing); Achilles (the one with the vulnerable heel) the greatest hero,
from Thessaly, accompanied by his friends and relations; his cousin, Ajax (a terrific fighter
but short on brains) from Salamis; Achilles friends Antilochus and Patroclus; then there were
the contingent from other Greek societies Diomedes, son of the King of Argos; Idomeneus,
from Crete; Nestor, son of the King of Pylos; and finally, Odysseus King of Ithaca (more
about him later as the hero of the Odyssey).
Briefly - The Trojan War
As usual the trouble begins with the gods. At a wedding party there is a beauty contest for the
most beautiful of three goddesses. Not wanting to play favorites, Zeus made Paris of Troy the
judge. Each goddess offered him bribes. In the "Judgement of Paris" the golden apple award
goes to Aphrodite. This does not sit well with the other two contestants, Hera and Athene. The
bribe he took was the promise that he should have the most beautiful woman in the world.
Now everyone knew that Helen (currently married to Menelaus), was the most beautiful
woman around. In fact, all the men who had tried to win her had taken a great oath. They
swore they would fight for the man who became her husband if he had any problems because
of his marriage. And he was about to have some terrific troubles.
Aphrodite takes Paris to visit the happy couple. The husband goes off on a trip to Crete and
Paris hops a ship with the fair Helen and sails home to Troy. When Menelaus gets home and
finds his wife missing the call goes out for a war party. Not everyone answers the draft call
right away. Odysseus doesn't want to leave his wife and son to fight for a cheating woman.
Achilles's mother doesn't want to send her boy to war because she knew he was going to die
there, so she puts him in women's clothes. But both heroes are tracked down and join the war
party.
Everybody met on the coast at Aulis where a thousand ships waited to carry the host of Greek
warriors over the sea. But the wind kept blowing the wrong way. The soothsayer Calchas
figured out that the only way to fix the wind was to sacrifice Iphigenia, daughter of
Agamemnon. As a father he wasn't too happy about this, but as Commander in Chief he didn't
see much choice. It was either kill her or his reputation and ambition to conquer Troy.
Ambition won out she had been sacrificed. The wind changed and they were off to Troy. The
ships landed, the battle began and all the heroes did their best for home and glory. This went
on for nine years and nobody gained an inch. Then the gods began to fight too. Agamemnon
had made off with a priest's daughter and that made Apollo mad. He began to help the Trojans
and spread disease among the Greeks. The girl had to be returned but Agamemnon took
Achilles' girl as a replacement. This made Achilles mad and he stayed in his tent and sulked.
By now the war had reached Olympus, what with each side praying for help the other gods
began to take sides.
The gods on the side of the Greeks were: Athena and Hera (because they lost the beauty
contest), Poseidon (because they were sea people), Hephaestus, Thetis (Achilles' mother and a
sea nymph) The gods pulling for Troy were: Aphrodite (on the side of Paris), Ares (always
sided with her), Apollo, Artemis (sided with her brother), Zeus (sometimes, because he was
caught between Hera and Thetis). There followed a series of meddling and interference by the
gods, now one way, now the other. There were spectacular fights between heroes from both
sides and one by one they die. The Iliad ends with the funeral of Hector.
The Odyssey
Homer doesn't tell the rest of the story of the Trojan War. Briefly it goes like this: Achilles
dies by a poison arrow shot into his heel; Ajax goes crazy and commits suicide and Paris is
killed; Odysseus, the clever one, comes up with the idea of the wooden horse. Left as a gift,
the Trojans take it into the city. That night the warriors hiding inside sneak out, open the gates
and the city is doomed. After the sack of the city the booty is divided and the survivors sail
home. Meanwhile, back at the palace in Ithaca, Odysseus faithful wife Penelope is having
trouble with a hundred suitors who want her and the kingdom. The epic of the Odyssey covers
forty-one days in the tenth year of Odysseus' wanderings as he tries to sail home. Very little of
the material from this epic turns up in Greek plays, so we will leave the story here.
The Last Pieces

ENTERTAINERS Homer gives us a marvelous look at a full range of entertainers as he proceeds through his
epics. He shows us acrobats, dancers, musicians, singers and story tellers. There seem to be
performers of all kinds and all skills in the society he knows. More importantly, they seem to
be professional performers. They do this for their livelihood. This shows us a pool of trained
and talented people who will be available for theatre when it occurs. As we move through the
years between Homer's writings and the rise of Athens as a center of Greek culture we spend
the time ca. 800 BCE through ca. 600 BCE with increasing kinds of entertainment.
PATTERN OF ANCIENT COMIC PLAY:

PROLOGUE which gives the exposition telling what you need to know ENTRANCE OF CHORUS (Parodos) - the major character representing the whole society
but with a definite character and point of view CONTEST (agon) between representatives of the two parties or principles which begins with
a quarrel, goes on to a fight, may include a trial and ends in the complete defeat of the bad
guy- (Parabasis) a break dividing the first part from last part in which the players talk to the
audience (like a stand-up comedian)
SACRIFICE AND FEAST - even the audience shares the feast
A FESTIVAL PROCESSION AND MARRIAGE - binds the community to the winner
A BIG CELEBRATION (Komos) - usually lots of dancing and singing
EXODUS - everybody leaves
We also know that somewhere in the background, being performed for celebrations, market
days and who knows what, was what is best described as "vulgar comedy". This seems to be
part mime, part burlesque, part farce. It could best be compared to the clown acts at the circus.
There are very few solid facts about this activity, but it obviously existed. It seemed to be
found all over. There are a number of references to the Megaran farces and mimes and to the
masks and other peculiarities that were common in a burlesque form of drama found in
Megara, the Peloponnese and in Magna Graecia, in other words all over the Greek peninsula.
The Megaran farces were made fun of later as really dull and obvious.
Keep in mind that comedy here is slap stick, pie-in-the face, slip on a banana peel type stuff.
Character is everything and the action or plot takes second place. In Homer the action is most
important and the hero is the one who does an action. Comedy is the opposite. The characters
are societies stock buffoons, especially the IMPOSTER. Later comedies will make great use
such "heroes" as Herakles (Hercules) and Achilles, who will appear as big burly strong men
disguised as women because they are afraid of getting hurt.
The basic action is part of Fertility Rituals but it puts the emphasis on society rather than on
the king or leader. Famine, disease, anti-social behavior, death, all these are beaten, chopped
up, hung, buried, burned and otherwise disposed of to get rid of the evil. Health, wealth, good
times and life are brought in to take their place. The contest is a battle between two opposites,
summer and winter, good and evil, the old king and the new. The fertility theme of death and
resurrection emphasizes the renewal of the Spirit of Life. The life of the society goes on while
individual human lives come and go. For this reason the chorus is as active a character as the
other characters. It is not a witness but a participant.
Here, again, there are performers, this time of a sort of street theatre in the whole of Greece.
The Dorian Megaran may have been better suited to local yokels in the kind of humor it used,
but it will feed into the mainstream later and blend with comedy from many parts of Greece to
give rise to the comedy of the Golden Age of Greece.
Afterword
All the pieces are available now: the source of great plots in all the magnificent myths,
legends and heroes; the spectacular elements of costume, masks and scenery; the pattern of
great municipal architecture for the assembly of the people; the music and dance to embellish
the work; performers with all the entertainment skills; even lowly comedy hiding in the
background. Now that the elements are here, the only thing lacking is a society that wants and
needs theatre. That is the next great movement of human history.
NOTES:
The description of the characteristics of play are drawn from: Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens
(Boston: The Beacon Press, 1955).
The discussion of the Memphite Creation Play is drawn from Theodore H. Gaster, Thespis,
(New York, Doubleday, 1961).
Drawn in part from The Horizon Book of Lost Worlds, Narrative by Leonard Cottrell, New
York, American Heritage, 1962.
Lost Worlds, page 261.
Drawn in part from The Horizon Book of Lost Worlds, Narrative by Leonard Cottrell, New
York, American Heritage, 1962.
next Chapter Two

or return to PART I Introduction

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CHAPTER TWO
The Greeks
Theatre Is Born In Athens
Introduction We begin with a continuation of the migrations of various people. When the Dorians move
into Greece, and the drought comes, a large number of Greeks leave the mainland. The
Aeolians* migrate to east Asia Minor. The Dorians* keep to the westerns side of the Greek
mountains where there is rainfall, and spread south into the Peloponnese*. Later they continue
south, into the islands of Crete* and Rhodes* and the southern part of the Asia Minor* coast.
The Ionians* move east to Ionia* where they settle on the islands and the Aegean coast of
Asia Minor (now Turkey). There the Ionians* begin to develop the culture which will later
come to be the glory of Greece. Once the weather improves and their society develops, this
Ionian* culture spreads back to those who had remained on the mainland. There it finds a
happy home, especially in Athens. The sixth century (the 500's BCE) sees the blossoming of
arts all over the Greek world and, in Athens, the founding of a theatre festival, the
development of laws and constitutions, and finally, the world's first democracy. The fifth
century (the 400's BCE) opens with the first Persian* invasion of Greece and the appearance
of the first tragic writer who's work survives to the present. This marks the beginning of the
Classical period which includes the work of all the famous Greek playwrights whose whork is
extant. The Classical Greek period ends with the Peloponnesian War* in which the dominant
city-states challenge each other for supreme leadership of Greece and her colonies and the
whole Greek society begins to fall apart.
A Society Forms
*The mainland of Greece has never been a particularly good agricultural land. It has no
navigable rivers, water is available primarily from springs and good crop land for grain is slim
to none. There are mountains, stony ground, lots of rock and a rocky sea coast all the way
around. The whole place is the opposite of the fertile Nile and Tigris and Euphrates river
valleys where the weather is basically dependable and irrigation of crops is easy.
When the 100 years drought of 1200 BCE hits the eastern side of the mountains and the
aggressive Dorians* start migrating down the western side of Greece, where the rains still fall,
a lot of the Ionians* pack up and move out. There are just too many people for the dwindling
food supply. By 1100 they have gone looking for a better life. They take to the sea over a
period of years and spread out over the eastern islands of the Aegean and the coast of Asia
Minor (now Turkey), in an area we now call Ionia*.
ARCHAIC PERIOD by 900 BCE DORIANS* centered in Sparta*, Corinth* and Argos*
spread through southern Peloponnese*, islands of Crete* and Rhodes*, and Halicarnassus* on
coast of Asia Minor*
c.800-c.500 - the Greeks begin to establish better relations with each other 800 BCE in Italy height of Etruscan* power [see next chapter] c.800 - c.700 BCE Homer* [possibly in Ionia]
composes the Iliad* and Odyssey*
* Things aren't much better in Ionia, but these people are a hardy, pioneering lot, hard-headed
and practical. They find islands and coastlines with narrow strips of land, backed by
mountains that block the way inland. So, they settle down to make the best of a bad bargain.
In small, walled towns they grow olive trees and grape vines. They turn merchants and take to
the sea for a living, peddling their olive oil and wine for other trade goods. These intrepid
merchants turn their boats into floating supermarkets. They begin to travel all over their
eastern part of the Mediterranean trading and selling as they go.
The Ionians* immediately discover two great empires in their neighborhood, the Babylonian
and the Egyptian. The Ionians' view of things couldn't have been more different.
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

IONIAN* BABYLONIAN* AND EGYPTIAN*
small towns scattered over islands large cities and coast Theocratic No theocratic tradition,
loosely (king descended from god and possessed of organized with a wide range of magical
powers) gods, demigods, supernatural a simple mythical explanation of Creation beings, all
not related to leaders which, they felt, happened quite recently. not very interested in Creation
Dependable physical environment with which happened long ago. abundant crops to feed a
large city Undependable physical environment population. with poor land, little water and a
Rigid social structure based on the need to need to find other ways to make a build and
maintain vast irrigation systems, living besides farming. in which only the priests are
permitted to Had rejected kings and royal read, write, study and descendents long ago and had
a practice mathematics and astronomy free wheeling social structure little need for scientific
or technological where anyone could better experiments: themselves if they could only find a
way. enough astronomy to meet immediate They went in for a sort of practical needs (like
helping the priests republican city-state system where make magic predictions) a small
number of wealthy men ruled by mutual consent. enough geometry to measure land and build
Very interested in finding out pyramids everything possible about the real world, astronomy.
geometry, mathematics to measure the volume of water mathematics, and biology, etc.
reservoirs
* The Ionians* have a new view of the world which rejects the mumbo-jumbo of the gods
being responsible for everything in the world. As they pick up all that foreign knowledge they
make more practical use of it than the people they got it from. Rather than gods, the Ionians
look for mechanisms to explain natural phenomena. Astronomy serves them as an aid to
navigation and they use the north star for an accurate navigational fix. This idea comes from
the first great natural philosopher, Thales* of Miletus*. They take geometry, expand and
develop it and use it as a basic instrument for measuring everything. They begin an intense
and ongoing study of nature that will continue for hundreds of years. They notice that nature
is made up of opposites, hot and cold, wet and dry, etc. and they use this notion of everything
having an opposite in many ways. In their settlements, political decisions are made by the
group. They find the members of this group often have opposite points of view. So, they argue
these views out publicly to arrive at community decisions. Their main occupation as traders
may have helped them realize the importance of compromise.
They put their observations and deductions about nature together with the notion of a world
filled with opposites. They do not see the world as something mystical or magical and
understood only by priests. They view the world as something you could observe, understand
and make practical use of. This realistic view of nature combines with their ideas about
political and economic structures. This combination produces a society that will provide the
dominant intellectual structure in Western civilization.
One of the most useful and important things the Ionians do is to develop their own laws and
legal codes. The older theocracies of Egypt and Babylonia, as well as even earlier
civilizations, established their laws from the top down. [One of the most famous and
influential earlier legal codes is that of Hammurabi* of Babylonia* (around 1700s BCE).] A
good legal system is the only way a society can bring order out of chaos. To have successful
commerce you have to be able to count on things people agree to, and have some legal
remedy if you don't get what you thought you're due. So, they start building a legal system.
The Ionians aren't about to let anyone tell them what their laws should be, so they discuss it,
argue about it, and end up with a legal system that embodies all their compromises.
As the Ionians* develop their ideas they also extend their trading and expand it all over the
Mediterranean. From about 750 to 550 they found colonies from the Black Sea to Sicily* and
trade in everything from silk to salt, as far north as the Russian steppes, south to Nubia* and
west to the Atlantic. Their geometry and astronomy enable them to produce the first maps to
aid them in their voyages. Gradually all this knowledge and commerce is shared with the
Ionians* in Greece and their city-states began to flourish there.
LATE ARCHAIC PERIOD
776 BCE is the traditional date of first Olympic game, *Panhellenic(all Greeks) games begin
to be referred to. The most prominent are the Delian* and the Olympian* . There are also: the
Isthmian* and the Pythian*.
750 to 550 - Age of colonization by city-states DORIANS*: Sparta* and Corinth*;
IONIANS* - Attica, Euboea, all centered on the rest of the Greek islands, Ionia from
Smyrna* south to Halicarnassus*, Athens* and cities of Asia Minor with colonies from Black
Sea to Africa, coast of France and Spain; greatest on Sicily* and southern Italy
DORIANS* centered in Sparta*, Corinth* and Argos*
NORTH-WEST GREEKS - north west Greece including Delphi* and Olympia* on the north
west Peloponnese
AEOLIANS* - Thessaly* and Boeotia*
ARCADIANS* - center of the Peloponnese*, the island of Lesbos*, coast of Asia Minor
north of Ionia*
On the Greek mainland and around the Aegean* Sea there are five basic Greek dialects that
identify the five different Greek speaking peoples who settled the area. They each have
distinctive social characteristics, but the two that stand out are the Spartans* (primarily
Dorians* who live in the Peloponnese*) and the Athenians* (Ionians* who have Athens* as
their headquarters). No matter how diverse the Greeks, they have a lot in common besides
their language and their center in Greece. One of the primary things is their religion and how
they relate to it.
This "religion" is very difficult for us to understand, after two thousand years (or more) of
monotheistic (one god) experience. We call them "pantheistic", that is, they have many gods
and almost everything has a god concerned and connected with it. They take their gods very
seriously, but in a different way than we do. Their entire social structure is related to their
gods but not dominated by them. One of the easiest ways to begin to understand this is to look
at how important contests are to them.
The Greek Notion Of Contest

We think of theatre as something quite different from a boxing match or a pentathlon. The
Greeks don't. To them every kind of a contest is equally important, necessary and central to
who they are. So if we want to understand the birth of theatre we need to understand the
Greek notion of contest. [In Greek, contest is agon*.]
The greatest of the early contests is the Olympic games, held at Olympia*, a city on the river
Alpheus in the far wester part of the Peloponneus. It is the chief site of the cult of Zeus*.
There these quadrennial (every fourth year) games are held in his honor. The Olympic games*
will continue, without interruption, into the fourth century A.D.
The Greeks love to spend their public money on building. These buildings are thought of as
serving the whole society. The stadiums, gymnasiums, (and later theatres) are places of
assembly for everyone. The events which take place in these buildings, the games, festivals
(and later the performances) are not regarded as recreation. Instead, they are exercises full of
ethical and religious meaning. These events are essentially public education. Education of the
whole public and not just the privileged few.
Everyone has a part to play in all these contests, and they participate as a community in a
cultural experience. The Greek notion of amicable competition is the way in which
individuals are able to prove their societal worth.
Our word "athletics" comes from the Greek word athlos which means "contest". The concept
behind the Greek notion of contest involves training, testing and perfecting the mind and the
body as one unified whole. The concept goes far back in the Greek heritage. We find it well
developed in Homer's* account of contests in the Iliad*. Before that it is told in song and
story, in myth and legend, about the hero Heracles* (the Romans will call him Hercules* )
who is thought to be the founder of sports and the first "athlete". Consequently, all Greeks
regard physical training as a very important part of the education of all the people.
Sparta* puts a different emphasis on the contest because they are a militaristic bunch who
don't think the mind is too important. The other Greek cities think pretty much as Athens
does, that the mind is as important as the body.
The public buildings at Olympia* and at Delphi* (for the Pythian* games, a quadrennial event
at Delphi in honor of Apollo*) are the most extensive and elaborate. These centers of worship
and culture could be thought of as shrines of sports pilgrimage as well as other forms of
worship. Visitors from all over Greece and the Greek Mediterranean come as performers or
spectators to worship and witness spectacles and parades, and enjoy the fairground
atmosphere. Souvenirs, local goods and foreign products are hawked all over the area around
the sacred precincts. It is Mardi Gras, Wimbledon, the Super Bowl, the World Series, and
Easter in Rome, all wrapped up together.
Slightly smaller but still important festival sports complexes are almost as busy in two other
locations. One of the oldest is on the island of Delos* (the Delian* games, in honor of
Apollo* on his sacred island). The second is the Isthmian* games (a biennial event, centered
in Cornith* and held in honor of Poseidon*).
These festivals and their games are vitally important to the Greeks. When the time of the
Olympics* approaches, they send heralds out to every town and through the countryside to
announce it. If any of the city-states are fighting each other (as they usually are) a general
truce is proclaimed so that every eligible man can compete and attend and people can travel to
attend. Soon, theatre will be a vital part of these festival contests, but, before we go deeper
into this, we need several other societal elements that are still developing.
753 BCE - Rome* founded c.700 BCE - Hesiod* writes the Theogony (story of the creation
and gods)
Meanwhile Things Progress

By 700 BCE the entire peninsula of Attica is organized under Athens*s as a city-state. They
are finally into coming up with legal codes (not just a few laws) and the first code of laws in
Athens is in 621 BCE, Draco's Code* (from which we get the term "Draconian", meaning
harsh or severe laws).
c.636 - c.546 BCE Thales* of Miltetus, founder of Ionian school of natural philosophy 621
BCE - Draco's* code of law in Athens c.600 BCE - coinage introduced
The economic situation continues to improve. By about 600 BCE the Greeks have invented
gold and silver coinage and introduce it throughout their mercantile range. The Athenian citystate, which includes all of Attica*, prospers from the fabulous silver mines at Laurium*. In
the southern tip of Attica, near Cape Sunion*, streams of silver, worked by slaves, flows from
Mount Laurion into the Athenian economy. Athenian citizens regularly receive dividends
from the mine.
By the end of the seventh century the Greek colonies are booming. Magna Graecia* (the
Greek colonies in Italy* and Sicily*) is among the most prosperous. Many philosophers,
doctors, musicians, poets and playwrights come, and will come, from these colonies. These
places will be on the major touring circuit when we get theatre rolling.
The raw materials stream back to Greece and make it possible for more and more people in
Greece to turn from farming to manufacturing. Slowly but surely a working capitalistic
system develops. There is already a stable currency and soon there are banks, wholesalers,
retailers, warehouses and factories. Corinth,* in particular, becomes a major "mother city"
(meaning that she has colonies,) a metropolis. Corinth* has a unique geographical position on
the Greek isthmus and is famous for its shipbuilding and shipping.
While there are a number of strong Greek city-states (particularly Corinth* , Sparta* and
Thebes* from among the almost fifteen hundred self-governing states) which, together, make
up the Hellenic world, we are only concerned here with the Ionian* Athenians*. They are the
ones who create theatre and who set the cultural pattern for Western Civilization.
The Mystery Religions

Eleusinian Mysteries* - are supposedly established by Demeter* in a small Attic town
(Eleusis*) on the west coast where she had stayed during her search for her kidnaped
daughter, Persephone*. After this stay she went forth to spread the knowledge of agriculture
over the world.
The mysteries are famous through the Greek (and later Graeco-Roman) world. They are a
very well-kept secret and so we know very little about them. They certainly involved long
training, and some kind of revelation which probably included a dramatization. It dealt with
the death and resurrection theme. It may have exerted some influence on the rise of theatre.
Orphic Religion*- concerned the poet-musician Orpheus* and became attached to the
Dionysus* cult. It involved a combination of poetry and ritual. Dionysian Mysteries* - These
are established in relation to the worship of Dionysus and are widespread. They involve
exclusively women. SIXTH CENTURY - The period that establishes the character of Athens
includes the worship of the Eleusinian Mysteries at great temple at Eleusis, a small town near
Athens and countryside festivals in honor of Dionysus.
THE GOD DIONYSUS* - is known for bringing the cult of the vine (and therefore, the gift
od wine) to all the ancient world. The cult of Dionysus* reportedly comes to the Greeks from
the east. He is said to have traveled through India, the Red Sea, Lydia, the land of the
Amazons, across Thrace and into Greece. When he arrives, there is, everywhere in Greece,
supposedly, strong opposition. This opposition is followed by divinely inspired madness and
the destruction of his enemies. After this his divinity is acknowledged everywhere. He is
reluctantly accepted by the Olympian gods and he is permitted to join them on Mount
Olympus. This acceptance includes a myth in which he is the son of Zeus and a mortal,
Semele*, the daughter of Cadmus*, a Phonecian prince who founded Thebes*. The whole
story of his parentage seems to be tacked on after the fact to legitimize his important place in
Greek worship.
The vital facts about this strange god, which interest us here, are those which relate to his
place as patron of the theatre. Unfortunately some of them are not facts, but suppositions,
assumptions and mostly intelligent guess work. The best source of Dionysus*' story is
Euripides*' play The Bacchae*, where we are shown Dionysus*' return to the city of his
mother, the opposition against him, and the way in which the women of the town are inspired
to run to the hilltops for worship and revel. Men are prohibited from even watching this and
peeping Toms are torn apart. The women, in a divine state of ecstasy and madness don't even
know what they have done. DIONYSUS* is associated with a number of attendants and
symbols. His main symbol is:
Thyrsus* a staff wound with vine leaves, ivy, and a pine cone on top.
Silenus* a horse demon of the Ionian woodlands, the leader of the satyrs and foster father of
Dionysus*. He is shown as a fat, old, snub-nosed, big-bellied drunkard riding a donkey
Satyrs* demons of the woodlands with horses' tails, legs.
Maenads* (literally "madwomen") female followers of Dionysus, possessed by the spirit of
the god, inspired by music of tambourine and flute. They always danced with great abandon,
loose and flowing hair, wore ivy wreaths and carried the thyrsus*.
The Athenian Polis

The term polis* refers to the city-state and its people, a community that acts together to
govern itself. Public affairs are regarded as the business of all the citizens. This idea of a selfregulating, self-governing community begins to take off. In the sixth century the distinctive
Athenian character becomes established. At this time Athens* is ruled by five archons* who
are elected annually by lot from among the citizens. The senior archon is head of this citizen
state.
A "citizen" is any property owner who does not work for someone else and is born a Greek of
the city-state. Only citizens are allowed to vote and hold public office. A citizen is an allround man, educated by private schooling, tutors and a grammar school until the age of
fourteen. There is no vocational schooling and trades are learned through apprenticeship.
Manners are to be learned at home. The wealthy can afford additional training in the private
schools. Citizens make up perhaps one percent of the total population. The rest are slaves,
women and children, foreigners, and those who work for a living. The real criteria for being a
citizen is being free from the need to work so that they can devote themselves totally to the
welfare of the community.
The legal system concerned mainly of feudal landlord laws designed to protect the land
owners. In Attica there is a rising protest from poor farmers, tenants and small shop owners
against the oppression of these big land barons. The Greek ideal of the virtues of community
life and dedication to the service of the polis don't bring them any benefits. A class struggle
began that would turn into a social revolution. There is a basic belief that every citizen should
play some direct part in the governing of the state. This is based on a belief in the rule of law.
594 - Solon*, Athenian lawgiver, makes constitutional and economic reforms 527
At this time, in 594 BCE, a man named Solon* is elected archon and given extraordinary
powers to revise the legal code. The very name "Solon" would come to mean "lawgiver". He
passed a series of laws which reduced the power of the landlords and set up a system in which
the poor can get protection from the rich. He also comes up with a scheme to develop
manufacturing. There aren't enough craftsmen in Athens to do this so Solon offered full
citizenship to foreign craftsmen if they would immigrate. This is a real milestone in economic
growth. He does not, however, do much to change the political institutions. He adds one
element, the Council of Four Hundred. This provid some equal representation for each of the
four tribes of free Ionian* citizens. More sweeping changes would be left for a later leader.
But the foundations of democracy are being laid.
560s to CULTURAL GROWTH IN ATHENS - Athenian society under tyrants Pisistratus*
530s brings annual festival to Dionysus from Eleuthrae (a town northwest) into Athens
[NOTE: Eleutheria are "festivals of freedom" Eleutherios means "the deliverer"] 566
institutes religious Panathenaic* (all Athenian) festival of games
The Birth Of Theatre

The birth of the theatre is finally here with the arrival on the scene in 560 BCE of the tyrant (a
self-appointed despot who claimed to rule in the people's interest) Pisistratus* who launched
the cultural revolution. He turned Athens into the spiritual center of the Attic* communes. He
establishes the first religious Panathenaic games* and brings the annual festivals of
Dionysus* to Athens. It is in connection with these Dionysian* festivals that the first public
contest for a tragic play is set up in Athens. *
546 BCE Persian conquest of Greek Asia Minor
This sudden influx of talent and local interest in both Dionysus and theatre may have had a
boost from events to the east. In 546 BCE the Persians* move in on the Ionian settlements in
Asia Minor* and conquer Lydia which includes all the cultural centers of Ionia*. It's likely
that a number of the artists and artisans take up the promise of full citizenship offered earlier
by Solon* and move into Athens* and Attica.
At any rate, we do know that Solon* has seen the actor Thespis* on his travels because he
writes about the experience. Thespis* apparently has a terrific reputation and he is the one
Pisistratus* chooses to launch the drama contest in Athens.
c.534 BCE the first contest in tragedy with traveling players - Thespis
Dionysian* FestivalsThe Rural Dionysia* - The oldest kind of festival. This is held in, and organized by, rural
towns all over Greece in December. Originally this was an agricultural fertility festival with
great displays of a phallus image, drinking, feasting and games. When play contests are
introduced in the sixth century the plays are mainly comedies. Later the prize winning plays
from the City's earlier years are put on here and new playwrights try out their work before
submitting it to the City of Dionysia*.
The Lenae* - A winter festival in January-February. The contest is similar in all respects to
the City of Dionysia* except that it's a more local affair since it occurrs during that part of the
year when travel by sea is chancy so there aren't many out-of-towners around. It's originally
all comedy.
The City of Dionysia* - WHEN - It's a spring festival in March-April. It occurrs after the
winter storms are over when ships can begin sailing regularly. Consequently, at this time,
Athens is normally full of visitors from all over the Mediterranean. The audiences at this
festival are cosmopolitan. For the week of the festival all trade is suspended, government
offices closed and even the law courts shut down. Prisoners are released from jail to attend.
WHAT - Early on, only tragedies and satyr plays are done and they all have to be original
plays that have never before been performed at this festival. Comedy is added to this festival
early in the fifth century. After the death of Aeschylus* they change the rules and anyone can
do a revival of his plays. If the plays are successful at this festival they are usually done in
other productions in the local theatres around Greece and the colonies.
HOW CHOSEN - The summer before a festival the magistrate in charge of the festivals
choose three plays from all those that have been submitted. These will be entered in the
competition.
CONTESTS - Originally the competition is only for the playwright of a tragedy. Later there
are prizes for the best comedy and, after the middle of the century, for the best actor. There is
a small jury who decide the winners of each contest category. The prizes are symbolic and the
honor of being in a contest and winning a prize are regarded as very important.
HOW PRODUCED - After the plays are chosen a "choregus*" (a wealthy backer) is
assigned by lot to each poet. When they institute prizes for actors, the actors are also assigned
in the same way. There are three actors and a chorus provided for each tragedy, and five
actors and a chorus for each comedy. The State pays for the chorus and actors. The choregus*
pays for everything else. In the beginning the playwright writes his own music, designs his
own set, works out his own dances, handles the directing, trains the chorus and acts in his own
play. This is really too much and the quality of the production suffer. Very soon trained acting
specialists take over training the chorus and doing the acting.
THE FESTIVAL ITSELF - The festival lasts five or six days (we don't know which). The
first day features a big parade, very solemn and then sports, games and merry-making. Three
days are devoted to the plays. Each day one tragic playwright's trilogy and satyr play are done
in the morning. Later in the day a comic playwright's comedy is performed. One or two days
are devoted to the poetry contests. These are performances by the dithyrambic choruses.
There are prizes for the poets and for the choruses.
THE AUDIENCE - Everyone is expected to come to the show. Originally the seats are free,
then a very small charge is made, and still later there is a special theatre fund to pay for
anyone who can't afford the fee.
Actors*
A note here on ACTORS*: It should be obvious, if Thespis* is running around acting, it is
unlikely he is the only one doing it. He is always regarded as the "first" actor, which means
he's the first one we have a record of. What he did took vocal and physical training. From this
point on there will be more of these "actors" and, since we know that they are paid, it seems
logical to say that there are now professional actors. One other point about actors in Greece:
as soon as the festival started, these "actors" are associated with the religious end of it too.
That means that they are sort of above any political squabbles, so they have diplomatic
immunity. They travel widely, doing their acting thing all over the Mediterranean, and they
are frequently used as diplomatic envoys between Greek states that are fighting each other.
The Theatre Building

We know very little, directly, about the first theatre building* used in this historic festival.
Like everyone else, the Greeks remodeled and built over earlier structures. But we have a
pretty good idea what it is like. It is just southeast of the Acropolis*. The audience sai sall
over the sloping hillside of the Acropolis looking down on the seventy-eight foot diameter
orchestra* (the playing area). In the center of the orchestra is the small altar to the god
(thymele*). Behind the orchestra the audience can see a temple of Dionysus*. There is no
scenic background or stage house at this time. However, there will soon be wooden seats put
up for the audience as time goes by. *
Costumes
When it comes to costumes we know a good deal more from vase paintings, statues,
descriptions and other visual evidence. Remember these costumes are designed to be seen by
a very large bunch of people, something on the order of a superdome crowd. The major
characters wear special boots to make them taller (cothurnus*) and more god-like. The height
varies with the importance of the character. The chorus does not wear these. The leading
characters also wear massive headdresses (onkos*) that tower over the mask* they wear. The
masks no doubt come down into the theatre from various religious celebrations where they are
widely used.
Each mask* told the audience a great deal about the character (and enabled one actor to play
several different roles, providing he didn't have to be on stage with himself). There may have
been as many as thirty kinds of tragic masks eventually. These ran the range from gods, old
men through mature and young men to a variety of women. They also provided a variety of
expressions to express the major emotions of the particular character. Made of cork or linen or
wood, these masks could easily have provided a slight megaphone to help the actor get his
voice across to the crowd.
The actual costumes worn are the basic Greek garments that everybody wore: the chiton* (a
loose flowing garment that covered the body from neck to ankles, but could be belted up and
bloused to be shorter); the himation* (a long cloak worn over the right shoulder which
covered the chiton); and the clamus* (a short cloak worn over the left shoulder). These are in
gorgeous colors and highly decorated according to the symbolic values needed for a particular
character. Purple wll be for kings and queens, dark colors for grief or mourning, that sort of
thing.
Sometimes the chiton* will be padded and they often have sleeves which the ones worn by
the men in the audience did not (they thought sleeves are degenerate and effeminate). Both
men and women wore these basic garments, although the material, color, cut and decoration
would differ between the sexes.
Back To Politics
By the end of the sixth century Cleisthenes* is running Athens. Somewhere around 508-7
BCE he redoes the whole political system and the first full fledged democracy is born. He
throws out the old power groups and divides the Athenians into ten tribes. He extends
citizenship to a bunch of men who have been excluded before. This doubles the size of the
electorate. Between this time and the time of Pericles* (in 443) the system blossoms.
508 BCE- Democracy replaces the rule of tyrant Cleisthenes' democratic constitution.
The old Council loses the power to run things and the Assembly gets that job. Membership in
the Council, which now just draws up agendas, is representative of the ten tribes with no
economic requirement. It is now just a high executive committee that reports to the Assembly.
All office holders, of whatever kind, are now responsible to the Assembly. The Assembly
itself has twenty to thirty thousand members and becomes the legislature. After a while any
citizen will be eligible for public office and they are all expected, at some time, to serve.
Election to public offices is by a sort of lottery system. There is a ban on re-election until
others have a chance. Most major offices have to be rotated. A man might find himself picked
to be a juror, a magistrate, a tax collector or a member of the council. If he is on the council
he can also find himself presiding, because this job changes (by lot) every day and the council
meets three hundred days every year. Even the ten generals are elected each year from the
entire citizenry. This doesn't necessarily provide for the best public defense. The historian
Thucydides* is exiled, when, as a general in the war with Sparta, he fails to hold a city.
A lot more people get first hand experience in government. There is less attention paid to the
economic class they come from. In the early stages office holders needed to be independently
wealthy so that they could have the leisure time to devote to public affairs, but by the time of
Pericles, wages are made available so that poorer people can also serve.
The Assembly meets four times a month, outdoors on the slope across from the Acropolis.
Fortunately not everyone comes regularly, but there are usually two to three thousand
assembled. At dawn they kill a pig (to sacrifice to Zeus), offered some prayers, heard the
agenda (set up by the council) and started in arguing. There is a water clock to limit each
speaker but it's always a rowdy shouting match. It is easy to see why they come to respect a
really skilled speaker and study to improve their speaking abilities.
With democracy comes the explosion in theatre. It grows and flourishes. If the assembly is the
seat of political argument and the games are the home of physical contests, the theatre is the
glue that holds the whole society together. In the theatre all ideas are presented and contested
for approval or dismissal. No important question is overlooked, the gods relations to people,
people's relation to each other, and an individual's relation to themselves. The arguments are
put in the form of a contest (an agon*); right against wrong; Sophrosyne* (prudence,
moderation, self-control) against hubris* (overweening pride and ambition); virtues against
vices; fate and destiny against a character's best efforts.
Aeschylus* Starts The Classical Period
The fifth century opens with clouds of war on the horizon. The Persians* have been
threatening and overrunning Greek colonies in Asia Minor* for fifty years. Now they are
knocking on the doors of Greece. Since there are almost constant wars of one kind and
another going on there is no real reason to cover them here. The exceptions are those conflicts
which seriously affected the society and the theatre. The Persian* invasions at this time are
just such an exception.
This time the Persians* intend to snuff out the annoying Greeks on their home turf. Darius I*
(528-486 BCE) starts the ball rolling. The Persian armies comes around by land through
Thrace and Macedonia and by sea across the Aegean. The battles and the victories at
Marathon* (490 BCE in which Aeschylus* takes part) and at Thermopylae* (480 BCE) will
ring down through history. By that time (480 BCE) the Persians are led by Xerxes* (486-465
BCE). The next big fight is a naval battle at Salamis*, in which the Greeks are led by
Themistocles*, and in which Aeschylus* also taks part.
These challenges to the fledgling democracy are severe and economically costly. The
assembly has to face the need for Athenians to give up their dividends from the silver mine at
Laurium* to pay for the ships needed at Salamis*. They do their civic duty and it's worth it.
By 479 BCE the Persians* are on the run and the Greeks have retaken the first parts of their
Asia Minor* colonies. In 477 BCE The Confederacy of Delos* is founded by the Athenians to
cope with all aggression. From this point on the Confederacy develops into an Empire.
Meanwhile Aeschylus* has become a playwright (and an actor as well). After his brother dies
at Marathon* Aeschylus enters the next year's competition for the best elegy on the fallen
heroes. He loses that one but wins the following year (484 BCE) in the dramatic contest. For
the next twelve years he seems to be traveling all over the Greek colonies and sometimes
fighting. He fights at Salamis and probably other battles in the Persian wars. He runs over to
Sicily and produces a revival of his play The Persians* . By 472 BCE he is back in Athens
winning a first prize. He continues to enter, losing to Sophocles* in 468 BCE, but winning the
following year. His last victory is with The Orestia* in 458 BCE.
MORE ON THE CHANGING THEATRE BUILDING The theatre building is changing during Aeschylus' time. The wooden seats which have been
arranged to follow the curve of the orchestra collapsed in 499 BCE and stone seating in the
auditorium is built. After 465 BCE a scenic wall is put up and we find all the playwrights
making inventive use of the new possibilities. The scene building is primarily a dressing room
but the playwrights must have kept pushing for more.
We can see the changes in the theatre structure through the settings for the plays. In
Aeschylus'* early plays, (Suppliants*, c. 490 BCE; Persians*, c. 472 BCE; Prometheus
Bound*, c. 470 BCE) the setting (like the theatre space) is in open, deserted countryside with
no buildings. No doubt Aeschylus makes use of the drop of some seven feet at the back of the
orchestra to great effect in the ending of Prometheus* when the titan sinks into the abyss.
Lighting is, of course, daylight and the sun. However, Aeschylus makes clever use of the fact
that the first play begins at sunrise and other playwrights follow his lead. There are often
references to the dawning of the day at the very beginning of the first play of a trilogy.
Aeschylus* (525-455 BCE)
First playwright who's work survives - First to become famous throughout the Greek world Innovator: added second actor (and may have added the third), elaborated the use of dance,
scenery and costume, reduced the importance of the chorus - Reputed to have written 90 plays
- Regarded as author of the most lofty and vigorous style, plays with ethical content, purifying
primitive aspects of religion, but very simple in dramatic structure. Noted for his heroic and
grand characters. His trilogies all dealt with a connected theme. PERSONAL LIFE: Of noble
birth, a contemporary of the poet Pindar*, he fought in the Battle of Marathon* and, later, in
the battle of Salamis*. He is also supposed to have served in the Battle of Plataea* After his
defeat by Sophocles, he retired to Gela* on the southwest coast of Sicily. While there he
wrote more tragedy and is highly honored. It is said he has been told by an oracle that "A
heavenly missile shall slay thee"*. He died in an accident when an eagle dropped a tortoise on
his head. Aeschylus* is buried by the citizens of Gela in a civic monument. His tomb became
an object of public veneration.
484 BCE Aeschylus* wins contest - EXTANT PLAYS: 472 BCE Aeschylus wins a first prize
- The Persians* 472 BCE 458 BCE Aeschylus last victory. The Seven Against Thebes* 468
BCE The Suppliants* 463 BCE Prometheus* c.470 BCE The Oresteia*, only full trilogy
Agamemnon* The Libation Bearers* Eumenides* 458 BCE
Heroes Of The Greeks
The Greeks have a very strong sense of the attributes that made up what a person should be,
what went to make up the character of a hero. Heroes are always shown in conflict with all the
forces that made it so difficult to be what they should be. The conflicts are cast in the form of
old myths and legends, but what is at stake is always clear to the audience. Our problem,
removed in time and space, is to see through the language and the stories to the essential
contests and the heroes that engaged in those conflicts.
A hero* is the embodiment of the society's ideals, a model for good or an example of the bad.
The Greeks started with two actors and so the earliest plays deal with only two characters on
stage talking in any one scene. They called the first character the protagonist* and the second
one the antagonist* because the play is seen as a contest or agon*. The plot concerned the
actions of the protagonist and the forces opposing these actions are handled by the antagonist.
In the earliest plays the hero can be the chorus, as it is in the Suppliants*. When it is said that
the chorus became less important, one of the things that happens is that the chorus no longer
functions as a major character, a hero, and becomes instead, witnesses to the action in the
character of the citizens, or slaves, or whatever the group of people affected by the action are.
But we need to remember that the chorus is a vital character even after it ceases to be the
hero.
The character of the hero is important as a focal point for the concerns of the polis. Later
Aristotle will talk about the hero as someone "better" than we are. In this sense the hero is a
way of running some ideas about leadership qualities up the flag pole to see who salutes them.
We need to remember that at this stage Greek heroes are ideas, not real people. The most
obvious idea that shows up as a hero is hubris*. The hero Prometheus and his antagonist
Zeus* both are kinds of hubris. In the extant play we have (keeping in mind that it is probably
the middle play in a trilogy on the theme) shows Prometheus* suffering, chained to a rock,
because he won't tell Zeus what he wants to know. Zeus keeps torturing him in a vain effort to
find out the secret he needs to know. The important question being contested is what ideals
are worth suffering for. Since the whole Greek system is based on arguing differences out to
arrive at workable compromises, what do you do with a matter that does not allow for
compromise? Either you tell or you don't, there isn't any compromise available.
Another range of ideas show up in Aeschylus* last play, the trilogy Orestia *. Here there are
religious and political ideas at play. The left over remnants of the "mother religion" show up
in the character of the chorus in the end of the middle play and the last play. The Furies
(Eumenidies*) are the embodiment of revenge for the spilling of a mother's blood. The Greek
society can't afford to have this primitive force around. In the last play the Furies are
bargained with, tamed and given a new job in the new society.
The political ideas show up in the problem set by the crime of Orestes*. He is required, under
the obligation a son owes his father, to avenge Agamemnon* 's murder by killing her. In the
last play we see Athena* setting up the jury system to replace personal revenge. The new
society can take it to court.
Sophocles* And The Changing Theatre

Sophocles* (born 500-494, died 406-5 BCE)
PERSONAL LIFE - His family is well-to-do. His father is apparently the owner of a
prosperous manufacturing business. He is handsome, athletic, witty and popular. His musical
and literary talents are evident in his youth. All his life he is known for his charm and his
piety. He is responsible for introducing the cult of Asclepius* (a Greek demigod of healing) to
Athens. He marrys twice and has three sons. He is a friend and acquaintance of all the great
figures of his time. Because of the success of Antigone he is elected strategos (one of the ten
Athenian officials elected every year to serve as military commanders). After his death he will
be honored with a hero cult of his own. 130 plays are attributed to him. His first play
(Triptolemus*) is staged about 468 BCE and won first prize. He played the lead in his early
plays but he has a weak voice and soon retired from acting. He won first or second prize 24
times. He is supposed to have introduced the third actor (although other writers claim
Aeschylus* did this). He increased the chorus from twelve to fifteen members. He is supposed
to have introduced scene painting (but again others claim Aeschylus* did this). Known for his
tragic world view, sense of irony and made each play of a trilogy an organic unit.
SOPHOCLES* EXTANT PLAYS: Philoctetes* 409 BCE Ajax* 442 BCE Oedipus the
King (Rex)* 420s BCE Antigone* 441 BCE Trachiniae* c.413 BCE Electra* c.413 BCE [a
large part of a satyr play, Oedipus at Colonus* 401 BCE Ichneutae* has also been recovered]
By the time we get to Sophocles* we are entering the Golden Age of Greece. His first victory
(468 BCE) comes while the war with Persia is still going on but peace is finally settled in 448
BCE. With military success, economic prosperity and a growing empire, Athens is becoming
confident, a little smug and definitely self-centered.
As we move into what will be known as the Age of Pericles*, everything is changing for the
better. Art, sculpture, music are reaching their height. The sad remains that will survive to be
rediscovered two thousand years later will touch off an artistic renaissance in Europe. The city
of Athens goes on a building boom. From the Parthenon* (447-438 BCE) to the Erechtheum*
(421-406 BCE) the greatest, most sublime architecture in the western world is built.
The Actor
Finally, with this period, the actor is coming into his (and it is only for men) own. As the
playwrights gradually quit acting in their own plays and the demand for more trained actors
increase, it becomes a profession. In 499 BCE the contest* for tragic actors is instituted and
they begin to get some of the glory that had gone only to the playwright.
c.486 BCE- contest for comedy instituted
Architecture And Scenery *The theatre, of course, is built and rebuilt in an ever grander manner. By 425 BCE the scene
house receives a stone foundation which shows it has grown higher and wider. There is a long
front wall and projecting wings (paraskenia* ) extending well beyond the diameter of the
orchestra. Between the wings there may have been a low stage and behind that a proscenium*
with columns. It is likely that the front wall has three doors for entrances and exits. So many
plays of the period make use of these doors that they are probably a permanent architectural
feature of the front of the scene house. Where the extending wings nearly meet the lines of
seats in the auditorium it creates two passageways (parados*). These are used by the audience
and by the chorus. Eventually they will become sculptured gates.
Scenery becomes a regular part of the show with painted panels on prisim-like three-sided
periaktoi* that can be turned to change the scene. Aeschylus* is credited by the later Roman
author, Vitruvius*, with inventing scene painting, but Aristotle claims Sophocles* did it. It
must have happened in that part of their careers that overlapped (probably around the 450s
BCE). They are both given credit for a number of innovations.
There is also a rolling platform (ekkuklema*) that can carry furniture or dead bodies out of
the scene house and onto the stage. The upper story has "machines" (mechane*) on it. These
are cranes that can lower and raise gods, chariots and what not from the upper regions down
onto the stage area. a hero cult of his own. 130 plays are attributed to him. His first play
(Triptolemus*) is staged about 468 BCE and won first prize. He played the lead in his early
plays but he has a weak voice and soon retired from acting. He won first or second prize 24
times. He is supposed to have introduced the third actor (although other writers claim
Aeschylus* did this). He increased the chorus from twelve to fifteen members. He is supposed
to have introduced scene painting (but again others claim Aeschylus* did this). Known for his
tragic world view, sense of irony and made each play of a trilogy an organic unit.
The Heroes* Change Too
Making use of all this scenery tends to take the plays out of the abstract austerity of
Aeschylus* and into a more human environment. If there is one thing Sophocles* is noted for
it is the humanity of his characters. They ring down though the ages. Oedipus* and Antigone*
are almost household words even today.
While Sophocles* is most closely associated with Pericles* and the Golden Age of Greece we
can see in the changing Greek characters in his plays the real-life tragedies that are beginning
to befall Athens. The theme of "blindness" leaps out from the Oedipus* story and is the key to
the hero's character. As a man who has done all the right things, (killed the monster Sphinx*,
rescued the city of Thebes, married the widowed queen Jocasta and ruled wisely while raising
two sons and two daughters) he is blind to the cause of the terrible plague which has
descended on his city and his part in it.
It is unlikely to be a sheer coincidence that at the time Oedipus Rex* is appearing at the
festival a terrible plague is sweeping Athens. The wars with Sparta* are under way and a lot
of stupid mistakes have been made by Athens*. The conflicts in the play mirror the very real
conflicts in Greece.
Nor is it unlikely that the atrocities committed by Athenians on sacred ground at religious
sites have nothing to do with the play about Oedipus' daughter, the hero Antigone*. She is
determined to observe the religious rites of burial for her dead brother and, in so doing, comes
into direct conflict with Creon* who is trying to keep a statesman-like grip on things in his
city. Here is a conflict of heroic proportions that must have struck a sympathetic chord in
every member of the audience. The story comes from legend but the dilemma is
contemporary. His choruses are truly "witnesses". They see and speak as the polis* in
weighing the truth of what they witness.
At the same time Socrates* is developing his search for the truth by asking questions. The
theatre, too, is asking questions like "should Antigone be allowed to practice a basic religious
act, even if it threatens the peace and stability of the state?" or from Creon's point of view,
"Should a mere slip of a girl be permitted to violate a state edict, even if it is a religious act?".
These are trying times for Greek society and we see the reflection in the plays.
Euripides* And The Crumbling State

When Euripides* makes his debut in 455 BCE Aeschylus* dies in Sicily*. In 442 BCE when
he is winning his first victory Sophocles* is getting Antigone* ready for the next festival. The
Peloponnesian War* is going on in fits and starts and the silver mine at Laurium* is petering
out. The Athenian democracy is tottering and it is no wonder that Euripides* is gloomy.
We have more of Euripides*' plays than we have of Aeschylus* and Sophocles* combined.
Why? He is said to have written the same number as Aeschylus* and only two thirds as many
as Sophocles*, so it can't be the quantity. Is he that much better as a playwright? Certainly his
contemporaries didn't think so. Somehow he touched the core of the malaise, uneasiness and
fear that his contemporary audiences felt in a world where all their values and beliefs are
slipping away. That can be a powerful emotional chord. And certainly powerful emotions is
what Euripides is best at.
His characters are fascinating psychological studies. Today we regard him as the "realist"
among the Greeks. He gets down to the nitty gritty in people's souls. His plays have survived
because they will be copied and transported to every corner of the world touched by Greek
culture. They are performed and read and saved when other manuscripts vanish in turbulent
times. His own society may not have wanted to give him prizes but later times and people did.
Euripides* -born 480 (or 485-4) dies 406 BCE Euripides* is the last of the three great tragic writers. PERSONAL LIFE: He is born at
Salamis about the time of the Battle of Salamis* to respectable parents who own property on
the island of Salamis. He is twice married and the father of three sons. He is at least an
acquaintance, perhaps a disciple of the philosophers Anaxagoras*, Prodicus*, Protagoras* and
Socrates* . The Sophist* movement (in philosophy) influences him deeply. There is a good
deal of criticism concerning his views on women. Apparently he wants to remove restrictions
on women, but, he shows women out of control in many of his plays. He spends his last year
and a half in Macedonia* (at the court of the king) where he dies. His work reveals a
preoccupation with internal corruption and destruction of his characters' souls rather than in
outward action. He writes approximately 90 plays. Modern critics have found him the most
psychological of the Greeks in his treatment of his characters. He is the most controversial of
the ancient playwrights. During Greek times, his work is not as popular as the two giants who
preceded him. In later periods his work is much more popular that theirs. His plays are
regarded as the most modern of the Greeks. He made his debut in 455 BCE His first victory is
442 BCE.
455 BCE Euripides* first festival and the year Aeschylus* dies 449 BCE- contest for tragic
actors instituted 422 BCE Euripides* first victory, Peloponnesian* war begins
EURIPIDES* EXTANT PLAYS - [dates approximate] Hippolytus* . . . . 428 BCE
Alcestis* . . . . . 438 BCE Ion* . . . . . . . .421 BCE Andromache* . . . . 424 BCE Iphigenia In
Taurica* 414 BCE Bacchae* . . . . . .405 BCE Iphigenia at Aulis* 406 BCE Cyclops* (a satyr
play)c.415 BCE Medea* . . . . . . 431 BCE Electra* . . . . . .413 BCE Orestes* . . . . . 408 BCE
Hecuba*. . . . . .c.425 BCE Phoenician Women* . 411 BCE Helen* . . . . . . 412 BCE
Suppliants* . . . . 421 BCE Mad Hercules*. . . .422 BCE Trojan Women* . . . 415 BCE
Children of Hercules* 427 BCE Rhesus* (doubtful). 455 BCE
The Changing Hero*

When Euripides* is in full flower there is skepticism in the Greek air. Idealism is on the way
out and expediency is the order of the day. The heroic, in the grand sense, is replaced by the
common place. Euripides* is the debunker of his day. He is a socratic playwright, questioning
the wisdom of the past, the truth of legends, the value of the gods. His choruses dwindle in
importance to mere observers. An occasional irrelevant chant is the best they add to the play.
He also needs to explain things before the main action starts and his prologues* are
distinctive.
Many of his heroes are studies in madness and in extremities: Electra*, Hecuba*,
Andromache*, Heracles*, the Trojan women*. Perhaps the most familiar character is Medea*,
the sorceress who helps Jason steal the Golden Fleece by killing her own brother. She flees
with him, gives him two sons, and then finds out he intends to dump her for a princess who
can help his career. Not only that, but he expects to get total custody and take their two sons
away with him. Madness is a rather mild term for this lady's passions.
As a hero, Medea* is not simply a woman scorned, she is the embodiment of all those who
suffer the injustices of the world. Her virtues of loyalty and strength are discounted by Jason
as so much trash. She has no country, no protector, no resources beyond her own cunning and
determination. Her revenge is cruel and massive.
The Craftsman Of Theatrical Means
The elaborate theatre spectacle now available serves Euripides* well and he sends on kings in
rags and a king's daughter in common clothes. He makes full use of the machinery of the
theatre and comes to be known as the playwright who depends on the "deus ex machina*",
because the "god from the machine" ends many of his plays. Medea* exits in just such a
machine, flying away in a magical chariot drawn by dragons. Other theatrical means are
evident in his plays. The Bacchae*, a sensational play of religious frenzy, includes a scene of
the god making the buildings shake.
It is interesting that we began this look at Greek tragic writers with Aeschylus*, whose early
play Prometheus* dealt with a god as the hero, and we end Greek tragedy with the Bacchae*,
produced after the author's death, which also features a god as a major character. For a man
who is reported to have little use for gods it is hard to understand what Euripides is up to with
this last play. It is true that the god seems surprisingly human and casually parades throughout
the play disguised as a human, Perhaps this is a key to the playwright's intentions. He may be
telling us that you never know who you are talking to.
There is an interesting emphasis on the helplessness of the people who get caught up in the
"divine madness". There is also the craven and insatiable curiosity of the men, who are
willing to stoop to any lengths, dressing up as women to spy on the revels.
The appalling ending when the mother comes in with head of her son on a pike, (thinking it a
wild animal she has killed) is only surpassed in horror by her slow realization of what has
really happened. The theme of helplessness and the loss of meaning about responsibility
appeals to an audience caught in the clutches of forces beyond their ability to understand or
deal with. The same social period sees a man who takes a very different view of disaster.
Which leads us to the last great Greek dramatic writer, this time of comedy.
Aristophanes* - He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best

We will spend a little longer here and catch up on comedy.
When our last tragic writer, Euripides*, is having his first victory, little Aristophanes* is three
years old. The comic plays have been part of the contest in the big festival* for forty-one
years. It will be another hundred and ten, or so, years before comic actors* can compete for
the prizes. All this time comedy* has been developing from dozens of comic traditions. It has
become a lot more than the humble popular farce we examined at the end of the last chapter.
Keep in mind that it is only the really important things that make up the ideas in good
comedy. Things like sex and religion and politics are always good for a laugh. If something
isn't important, dear to our hearts, central to our society, it's not likely to show up in our
comedies. If we don't care about it we won't find a joke about it very funny. Take personal
dignity, for example, we care about that, that's why we laugh when a guy who's trying so hard
to be dignified slips on a banana peel. Think about it.
When comedy began its association with Dionysus there wan't much shape to the thing. It
starts with a comus*. This is a ritual that can best be described as a Greek version of a cross
between a Mickey Mouse parade and "Hee Haw" with dirty songs (remember it is a fertility
ritual). A bunch of performers, dressed up in masks and costumes, as all kinds of animals:
horses (a particular favorite of Dionysus), birds, frogs, etc. They dance, sing, crack jokes with
the audience, and generally make whoophee, which is the whole point of the thing.
As the rural festivals grow they tack on the farces and mimes, add some satire on current
events, and gradually evolve what we know as Old Comedy*. It is really big in the colonies.
The best writers seem to come from Italy and Sicily*, so it's likely they picked up a few
things from the Etruscans, who are into farce in a big way and have just passed their height as
a power in Italy.
Anyway, other than the plays of Aristophanes*, we don't have any other examples of Old
Comedy. It is not a form that is easy to turn into a written script. It's rather like trying to read
a written copy of "Saturday Night Live". The jokes are there but the dances and songs are
missing, and if you don't know the people that are being referred to, or what is happening in
the country when the show aired, you can't even follow the jokes. It's obvious that the quality
of the writing and the logic of the way the pieces are put together keep improving because we
still enjoy Aristophanes* and we can see what he is up to. In contemporary productions it is
easy to rewrite most of his references to people and events. They fit a lot of what is going on
now.
Aristophanes* - born c. 445 BCE, dies c. 385 BCE
PERSONAL LIFE: He is born into a wealthy family and starts his career at the early age of
eighteen. Very little is known of his life beyond the name of three of his sons. He must have
been a member of aristocratic society since he appears in Plato*'s Symposium on friendly
terms with Socrates* and Agathon*. This is surprising when you consider how badly these
two people are treated in his last two plays. Apparently he disliked handling the production
details of his productions and often has them produced by his friends. His last two plays are
produced by his son. He is noted for his biting satire. Aristophanes* writes approximately 40
plays, most of these are written during the Peloponnesian* War. He is the only writer of Old
Comedy whose plays are extant. His first production is 427 BCE
EXTANT PLAYS - DATES EXTANT PLAYS - DATES The Acharnians* 425 BCE
Lysistrata* 411 BCE The Birds* 414 BCE Peace* 421 BCE The Clouds* 423 BCE Plutus*
388 BCE Ecclesiazusae* 392 BCE Thesmophoriazusuae* 411 BCE The Frogs* 405 BCE The
Wasps* 422 BCE The Knights* 424 BCE
Take The Frogs* for instance Aristophanes must have been one of the best comic writers because we have eleven of his
plays still with us. That means, as we mentioned with Euripides* , there are a number of
copies floating around and a number of productions mounted in other cities and other
colonies. He runs Euripides* a close second in the text survival game, well ahead of
Aeschylus* and Sophocles*.
Take his play, The Frogs*. Try to visualize the show. The chorus are got up as Frogs and the
five main actors with tights on their legs, their torsos padded to the shape of a barrel, a short,
waist length cloak, a prominent (obviously fake) phallus, and a funny character mask. A
distorted caricature, ready and able to engage in the slapstick burlesque that would put Roger
Rabbit, the Simpsons, or Bugs Bunny to shame.
A comedy always starts off with a "happy idea". This time the idea is bring back a great tragic
poet from among host of the dead. A comedy always centers on a contest (an agon*). In this
case the contest is supposedly going to be about literary merit. Who is the greatest tragic poet?
Is it Aeschylus* or Sophocles*, or Euripides* (he just died the year before)? The real contest
is over values. Which set of values, as seen in the tragic works of these guys, is most needed
in Athens* in 405 BCE?
Remember the Peloponnesian war*? Well, it's about over and Athens will surrender to
Sparta* next year. It's about as bad as it can get. The leaders aren't leading, the people aren't
following, the slaves have revolted in the silver mines and the silver and money are running
out anyway. Trade has been cut to the bone and the food supply from the colonies isn't getting
through. It must have been a lot like Moscow in 1991. The old ideals that made the country
great have failed and there don't seem to be any easy solutions. A contest about values is just
the thing.
* The Frogs* starts off with a hero setting off on his quest (Prologue). The hero in this case is
the god of the festival, Dionysus*. After all, this quest is supposed to be for the best tragic
poet, and theatre is his personal domain. Now, as the audience knows, all the best poets are
dead, and the only place to look for dead poets is in Hades*. How do you get to Hades? That's
easy, Herakles* once made it and got back OK. So, off Dionysus* goes, with his slave, to ask
the big man for advice. There are lots of jokes from Herakles* about how the easiest way to
get to the land of the dead is suicide in various forms.
After all this totally unhelpful help, the god decides to disguise himself as the big guy. After
all, who do you send on a dangerous mission to the Underworld (Hades) to get the word that
will save humanity? Herakles*, of course, the Arnold Schwarzenegger of his day. Only this is
a comedy and Dionysus is an effeminate god and a scaredy-cat. The lion-skin and club
(Herakles*' symbols of who he is) look pretty silly on the mincing Dionysus*.
We have burlesque, slapstick, and, as we get to the river Styx* (that circles Hades), songs and
dances ( first Parados*, entrance of the chorus) from the Frogs (who live in the river, of
course). More fun and games with the grouchy Charon*, the boatman who runs the ferry
across the river. You have to pay him and Dionysus* does, but he is too cheap to pay for his
slave, so that one has to walk the long way around.
When they both get to Hades, by their different routes, there are more fun and games. They
are pretty rough on visitors at the gate to Hades, and when music starts playing, Dionysus*
hides in the audience to avoid harsh treatment.
Now we get one of those strange parts in the middle (this is the Second Parados*). Songs,
hymns, sexy dancing, general fun and games with topical remarks to the audience. Finally the
Frogs tell Dionysus* how to get in to the palace of Hades.
(Episode*) When Dionysus* knocks on the door the doorkeeper takes him for Herakles* and
sends for guards to arrest him (he left owing money). There are a series of gags where
Dionysus* disguises himself as his slave to avoid getting hurt. He makes his slave deck out as
Herakles* with his club and lion skin. They change back and forth every time Herakles* is
either welcomed or threatened. Finally the guards can't tell who's the god and who's the slave
so they whip them both and Dionysus* gets hurt anyway. [You may notice that gods have no
special powers to avoid discomfort. They are almost indistinguishable from people by this
time.]
Now there is another strange part in the middle (this time the Parabasis*) where the chorus
attacks the politicians and praises the people and pokes fun at various local celebrities who are
there in the audience.
Eventually the cast gets to the agon*, the contest, and another Episode*. Euripides* and
Aeschylus* are the contestants. They each try to see which is the weightier playwright by
putting lines from their plays on a giant scale. More fun and games and the scales keep
coming down for Aeschylus* (obviously the ancient values are the ones the playwright is
pushing). Dionysus* still can't decide and he asks for advice on how to save the city. Finally
Aeschylus* is picked to come back and save tragedy (and hopefully going back to the first
playwright's vigorous ideals will save the Athenians). Everybody is invited to a farewell
dinner and we get peace, reconciliation and a triumphal Exodos*.
The same pattern shows up in all Aristophanes' plays. The happy idea, the contest which is
proposed, and the real social, political and religious satire and comment underneath. All these
embedded in hilarious songs, dances and spouting off to the audience.
One of the most popular Aristophanic comedies in current theatre is Lysistrata*. It's written
six years earlier than The Frogs*, when there is still some chance of ending the war. The
women of all sides in the war get together and decide the only way to stop the fighting is for
them to deny the men any sexual relations whatsoever, until they stop this war business. This
is far and away the funniest play for contemporary audiences.
Afterword
All of which brings us to the end of the Classical Greek period and into a time of confusion
and change. For the Greeks, and the Athenians in particular, theatre as well as society is
slipping rapidly down hill.
NOTES:
Based on: James Burke, "The Way We Are", pages 14-16, The Day The Universe Changed,
Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1985.
Drawn in part from The Horizon Book of Ancient Greece, New York, American Heritage
Publishing Co., 1965.
The most useful work on the Greek theatre building is Allardyce Nicoll, The Development of
the Theatre, New York, Harcourt, Brace and Co., 3rd ed., 1946.
Nagler, op cit, p. 5.
next chap3

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CHAPTER THREE
The Hellenistic World
Through Alexander*, Theatre Spreads Throughout The Known World
Introduction We are now going into the brief Late Classical period which ends with Alexander the Great
conquering the known world and spreading Greek culture and Greek theatre from India to
Spain. This is followed rapidly by the Hellenistic age in which Greek culture, no longer
centered in Athens, dominates the Mediterranean and is gradually taken up by the Romans.
At this point it is necessary to take a step back and look at the larger Mediterranean world. A
number of developments have been going on to the west of Greece, over on the Italian
penninsula. To the east of Greece the Persians have built up an enormous stretch of territory
that runs from the eastern edge of the Mediterranean clear over to India. This is part of the
territory Alexander* will conquer. With the death of this great conquorer, his conquests will
be divided among his generals and another society will rise to prominence in Italy.
Soon the Romans will inherit, by default and conquest, not only the Greek world but also
Greek theatre and culture. For the first two hundred years of the rise of Rome these Romans
are busy looking to Athens and Greece for literature, experts, teachers, cultural guidelines and
technological and scientific practices.
We are now looking at a politically and socially changing world where theatre activities are
spreading all over, but new playwrights are not making enough of a mark to have their works
saved for posterity.
The In Between Times
The surrender of Athens* to Sparta* in 404 BCE marks the end of the first real democracy.
The terms of surrender include dissolving the Athenian* empire, losing her navy, tearing
down the city walls and amnesty for all those anti-democratic citizens who fled the city during
the war (the ones who are regarded as traitors). The Spartans figure these guys will take over
running Attica (the Athenian-led Greek alliance). Attica* is to become an "ally" of Sparta.
That means they will have to do exactly as they're told. And, they have to have a new form of
government.
The Spartans* insist that Athens adopt their system (an Oligarchy*) with five supreme
magistrates running things (including the secret police), a council of twenty-eight elders to
back them up and an assembly to provide a rubber stamp approval. There are two hereditary
kings who fill in for ceremonial duties and, in wartime, one acts as commander-in-chief of the
army. [It sounds a good bit like the Russian Communist Party governmental apparatus, just
before it fell apart.]
The new governing body, known as the Thirty Tyrants*, took over. They happily execute a
whole bunch of democratic leaders and set out to run the place. But some democrats in exile
work up a coup. The tyrants are turned out within a year and the old constitution restored.
Now it is the democrats turn. They hold a witch-hunt, looking for somebody to blame for the
mess they are in. Most of the people responsible are already dead so they settle for poor old
Socrates* (probably the greatest philosopher ever). He has always been critical of everything
and everybody so he makes a perfect fall guy. The jury (of 501 citizens) finds him guilty and
he drinks the hemlock (a favorite execution method of the Greeks, you just let the condemned
commit suicide).
Theatrically Speaking Theatrically speaking, we are now into a period of nothing much going on that will really
count. The most exciting thing in theatre is that, with the decline of tragedy, the actors*
become more important. With the troubled times the actors band together to protect their
interests. They form the first ever theatrical union (it is called a guild) the "Craftsmen of
Dionysus*". Despite this title for the craft guild, the Cult of Dionysus* is becoming less
popular and others arise to compete. The theatre is finally separated entirely from the cult and
becomes completely secularized. Tragedy seems to be written by literary hacks who,
(according to Aristotle*) throw their emphasis on rhetoric instead of civic affairs. There are
growing restrictions on freedom and this is the downfall of Old Comedy which could only
survive in a real democracy.
386 BCE- revival of older tragedies
Society Marches On There is plenty going on around the Mediterranean, though, in societal change. The city-states
of Greece keep switching sides, going nowhere. Thebes* , Corinth*, Athens* and Sparta*, all
try to lead but no one wants to follow. The Persians* pick up a few scraps from the late war,
but don't get very far with it. The Macedonians* (a rough, barbaric people to the north) are
beginning to stir, but don't move yet.
Over in Sicily* the Greek city-state of Syracuse* is putting together a nice little empire over
most of of the island of Sicily* and the toe of the boot of Italy (the Magna Graeca area). They
can't quite get all of Sicily because the Carthaginians* have moved into the western end and
can't be budged. This doesn't matter now, but it will later on.
The only exciting thing in the eastern end of the Mediterranean is the intellectual life of
Athens*, Theatre may be reduced to revivals of the great dead playwrights, but philosophy
and thinking in general are taking off like a sky rocket. Young Plato* (427-347 BCE), who
had studied with Socrates*, is beginning to teach and develop the Socratic methods that will
shape the western world's thinking.
Keep in mind that things are also beginning to shape up further west, around central Italy*.
The Etruscan* actors are staging the first theatrical performances in Rome (the southern edge
of their territory and a market town for dealing with the Greeks across the southern border),
no doubt having seen how successful the Greek theatres are, just down the coast. The
Romans* are rebuilding Rome* after the Gallic invasion (387 BCE) from the north, and
building city walls to prevent that sort of thing happening again.
At home in Athens*, the general level of government is down. While it's true that the
democracy has been reinstated it isn't working according to plan. The introduction of payment
for citizens to attend the assembly is a good idea, it gradually became a curse. The point is to
enable the poorer citizens the time away from their work to attend. The result is that the
dilligent workers stay away and the unfit and disinterested show up just for the money. As
time goes by, the really competent citizens give up in disgust and stay home.
The world famous Greek patriotism and pride in their state is pretty much gone. Since the
Peloponnesian war*, when there was such a great need for soldiers that the state have been
forced to hire men who fought for money, the military has become a caste of hired help. After
the war the best of these look for further military employment elsewhere and they get it. This
is great for Greek military reputation but useless to the Greek states. The Persians* hire on ten
thousand of these Greek mercenaries. There is a big stink when the Persians murder their
hired Greek generals and the common Greek soldiers have a long, bitter march home. The
Greek soldier of fortune is being trained in the school of hard knocks.
Back on the home front this philosophy business is really taking off. Plato* is writing down
everything he learned from Socrates* and launching out with his own views. People came
from all over to study with him and learn from him. A young student named Aristotle* (384322 BCE) shows up and really takes to this philosophy stuff. He spends about twenty years in
Plato*'s school, picking up everything there is to learn. After all, philosophy is the study of,
well, everything. That covers a lot of territory. After Plato* dies in 347 BCE, Aristotle* leaves
town for Asia Minor and the island of Lesbos*.
Alexander And Logical Thinking
Which brings us to Alexander* (356-323 BCE), one of that rough Macedonian* lot to the
north of Greece. His father, Phillip II*, was a crafty, battle-hardened warrior with an eye to
taking things over. He (Phillip) had noticed that the Greeks just couldn't get along with each
other and the Persians kept trying to take more territory every time an opportunity arose. So
Phillip decides he'll get the Greeks together under his leadership and go knock the socks off
the Persians.
In order to do this, Phillip* has to have a really good army of his own and a very persuasive
way with the Greeks, who are none too keen on foreign wars. The army end of it Phillip* can
handle. He has picked up the best of the Greek idea of close-ranked spearmen, added longer
spears, lots of swordsmen in armor, filled in behind with archers to shoot over their heads, and
added two wings of calvary to sweep in from each side. It works like a charm and he starts
south through some of the Greek city states.
Persuading the Greeks is another matter. Phillip* is not too good on this persuasion business.
However, he's planned for this. Phillip* has trained his son to fight and ride and, when he
(Alexander, the son) is thirteen, Phillip figures that the boy needs to become versed in the
ways of the Greeks, too. So Phillip goes looking for a really good tutor for his boy. He comes
back with Aristotle*, the wisest man in Greece.
Now this is a stroke of genius because Aristotle* had just come up with this new way of
thinking things through, called logic. It's simple, really, but nobody had ever worked it out
clearly before. It really goes back to Thales * and that geometry business the Ionians had
picked up and tinkered with. You take two things that you do know and that leads you to an
answer to a third thing you don't know. If A equals B, and C equals B, then A equals C. Or, in
more practical terms, if something hot melts ice and the sun melts ice, then the sun is hot. So
Aristotle* teaches Alexander* to think logically.
Alexander also learns a great deal about the natural world, and that Greek speciality,
geography. He will send back specimens of plants and rocks to Aristotle* from all of his later
travels. Alexander also learns to love the works of Homer*. All in all, Alexander* becomes a
renaissance Greek hero (despite being Macedonian). After three years with Aristotle*,
Alexander (age 16) goes off to war beside his father to learn his trade of being a king.
Two years later Phillip* and Alexander* have defeated the various Greek states including
Athens* and the time has come for the persuading business. After all that terrific Greek
education, Phillip* lets Alexander* do the persuading, and he does. A peace settlement is
simple, recognize Phillip* as the general of all Greece in a war against Persia. Everybody
(except Sparta*) thinks this is a great idea. There is one Athenian* faction, led by
Demosthenes, who thinks this will be the end of democracy, but nobody takes them seriously.
Phillip* puts together a Greek federation, with himself at the head, of course. All the states get
to keep their own governments, under Phillip*, of course. Everybody is happy and the army
marches off to free the Greek colonies from Persian* oppression. After some interesting
palace intrigue, Phillip* dies at the hands of one of Alexander's bodyguards and Alexander* is
now king of this Greek-Macedonian coallition, at the age of twenty.
The death of Phillip* throws the federation of Greeks into dissension and the whole thing
almost comes apart. The invasion of Persia* is postponed while the (now) General
Alexander* lays down the law in Greece. Since he has the world's best professional army to
tackle the job with, it doesn't take long to bring all the states to heel. Then he has to make a
flying trip north to take care of a bunch of barbarians on the Danube* who are making inroads
on Macedonia*. After he settles that matter he has to rush over and take care of the Illyrians*
in Albania. While he is off doing this, the Greeks revolt again and he comes back to teach
them a lesson they won't forget. The Thebans* led this revolt so he massacres them. This so
appalls the rest of the Greeks that his troubles are over. He now is a seasoned commander-inchief and acknowledged leader of Greece and all lands up to the Danube. He is ready for his
excellent Asian adventure.
Why We Bother With Alexander*
In April 334 BCE when Alexander* marches his armies out of Greece the creative spark
started by the Ionians* takes a giant leap forward. Alexander will spread Greek culture and
with it, Greek theatre, east beyond the Indus river in India, north over the Khyber Pass into
Afganistan, south to the Arabian and Red Seas and west into Egypt*.
He changes the western world forever and starts parts of the eastern world on new and
different paths. The seeds that are the notions of democracy, of logic, of theatre as a reflection
of society, of a world that can be understood and turned to the use of people rather than
mystically known through priests and gods, all these are scattered in the soils of other lands
and other cultures. Some will grow, some will not.
Meanwhile, back in Athens, Aristotle* has opened his own school (335 BCE) and begins to
write on everything, including theatre. Unfortunately for us, his writings on theatre are only
lecture notes. He tells us something of tragedy but little of comedy. But what he does write on
theatre will become the bible and the basis for theatre criticism down to the present day.
[Many people will differ with Aristotle, but everyone will take what he said into account.]
He has been asked by his students to come up with something that fits his view of the world
which is different from his teacher, Plato*. Plato's view of the world regards everything in the
world we live in as an "imitation*" of an ideal that exists somewhere on another plane, in the
mind of god. We need to keep Plato's notion in mind because other society's will take it up
later (they'll call it Neo-Platonism*). Aristotle pays lip service to the "imitation" idea in
theatre and calls what is done in all the arts "imitation". (For Plato*, art is an imitation of an
imitation.) Now this "imitation" business doesn't mean that it is "fake", but rather that there
are real models out there for what is done in art.
Aristotle's* Poetics*
IMITATION
Theatre is a form of poetry. Poetry is a mode of imitation (mimesis*). The
function of the poet is to imitate universal aspects of life that have been
impressed on his mind by observing life. Poetry is an act of creation. It imitates
mental impressions and is an idealization not a direct copy of life. This makes
it more real than real life because it imitates the universal.
All arts (poetry, art, music, etc.) differ from each other in:
1- the media they employ... Theatre uses language, rhythm and harmony
2- the objects they imitate ... Theatre imitates human beings in action Comedy
imitates humans who are less than we are, whose faults are ridiculous. What is
ridiculous is ugly and involves faults or acts that do not cause pain to anyone.
Tragedy imitates humans who are better than we are or the same as we are.
3- the manner of imitation...Theatre uses human being in action, acting out the
action, also narration and speeches of characters.
4- their purpose or function... Theatre provides pleasure of play, learning,
beauty and harmony.
Having said all this, Aristotle* proceeds with his main aim which is to identify
the essential characteristics (those characteristics which make it what it is and
not something else) of the thing (tragedy). This kind of activity is his speciality
(he does it for biology, for example). So the Poetics* is a document describing
the essential characteristics of theatre in general and tragedy in particular. It
includes a value system which tells the criteria needed to distinguish really
good tragedy from less good tragedy.
SIX ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY in the order of their importance:
1- plot* (action) must have a beginning, middle and end; not too short or too
long, so we can grasp the whole; the natural limit provides a change in the
hero's fortunes with proper causation.
UNITY OF ACTION* - organically unified in which all parts are necessary
and in perfect order with one central theme.
2- character - fits the functions of that character, is true to type, is true to life, is
consistent and unified throughout the play, all acts and words are probable and
necessary, should be better than we are.
3- thought - the ideas, values and attitudes expressed through the characters
and the actions.
4- diction - includes the word choice, sentence structure, everything relating to
the language and form of the the words to be spoken and sung.
5- music - includes the sound of the spoken language as well as the songs and
accompanying music to be played.
6- spectacle - includes everything visual, movement, dance, scenery, costume,
masks
PARTS OF THE PLOT
1- reversal (peripety*) a change that occurs when the opposite of what was
intended turns out. (not there in simple plot)
2- discovery (anagnorisis*) a change from ignorance to knowledge, love to
hate, or vice versa. The best kind also arouses pity and fear*. (not there in
simple plot)
3- suffering (caused by something character has done)
DIVISIONS OF PLOT - Prologue, episode, stasimon, Parados, exodos
IDEAL TRAGIC PLOT
1. must be complex (not simple)
2. must arouse pity and fear
IDEAL TRAGIC CHARACTER
1. must pass from happiness to misery
2. must not be too good
3. downfall of character must not be caused by baseness
4. downfall must be due to some character flaw or error in judgement

5. must be a leader and of a famous house (represent his society)
Menander*, The New Comedy* And Hellenistic* Theatre
Middle Comedy - 400-338 BCE
While these military, phisophical and social things are going on, the performance and writing
of theatre falls on comedy. The Old Comedy seems to have come to an end with
Aristophanes*and the fall of Athenian democracy of that time. There apparently is something
known as Middle Comedy* that comes in between the Old and the New Comedy, but we
know next to nothing about it. Apparently there are at least 40 authors (the leading ones are
foreign, professional writers) and over 600 titles. The only extant works are two plays by
Aristophanes* that really belong to this transitional period. The chorus and the Parabasis part
dwindle away. All that fun and games about insulting people in the audience and making
strong political statements gets drastically reduced. The plays beging to throw their emphasis
in the situation, which involves pleasures of food, sex and courtesans. We also see, by the
visual evidence, that the appearance of the comic characters gradually becomes more human
and less like cartoons. The actions of the plays are becoming domestic and the way the
characters go about things must be getting more realistic.
339 BCE- finds the revival of older comedies a going concern*
329-312 BCE- the contest for comic actors is instituted
New Comedy
This genre is essentially a comedy of manners. That means it is a look at the private affairs of
the leisure-class Greeks, mainly lovers. The plays always have a happy ending after five acts
of difficulties. Both the characters and the plot are more realistic, although the characters are
stock types. The major stock characters are: the parasite, courtesan, loyal slave, knavish slave,
boor, foundling, twins, miser, bold adventurer.
MENANDER* - (he wrote over 100 plays)
The Greek New Comedy flourishes during the fourth and third centuries BCE. We know
about seventy writers, again, most of them are foreigners. These guys write somewhere
around 1400 plays. The one playwright we know something about is Menander* of Athens
(ca. 342-291 BCE) whose only surviving works are a play, The Grouch* (Dyskolos*), and a
number of fragments. [The play isn't discovered until the 1950's, while parts of three other
plays turned up earlier in this century. They are all found in Egypt, which goes to show you
that his plays traveled widely.] Menander*'s subjects are the politics of the family. The
characters are fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, slaves and courtesans. Almost everything we
know about Menander* comes to us from the Romans* who so enjoyed his plays that they
imitated at least 9 of them in Latin, so we will wait (a couple centuries) until these turn up to
look at the new domestic hero and the characteristic plot.
This theatrical change reflects the change in Athenian* life. Gone are the grand old days
when everyone was concerned with noble ideas and civic affairs. Now it's all merchants,
money and the middle class. While this is bad for the theatre as an art, it is terrific for theatre
as a business. All over Greece and the Greek colonies they are building new theatres and
remodeling old ones.
The gods have been argued out of existence (at least in affairs of the state) and business is the
only business of the day. The two big ideas are becoming the mainstays of the Hellenistic
philosophy, Stoicism*, and Epicureanism*. These will continue on into the Roman world as
dominant ideas.
Stoicism* [actually this is sort of like Buddhism] is into: believing everything is predestined,
complete supression of emotions , striving for self-sufficiency, enduring pain and suffering
with resignation, accepting whatever happens, trying to free oneself from caring about
external circumstances and material things, and trying to develop reason, virtue and inner
peace.
Epicureanism* is into: mental calm and tranquility, getting rid of afear of the gods and death
by developing knowledge of nature and science (atomic theory), belief that the highest good is
pleasure (which is mental calm), physical pleasures shloud be enjoyed in moderation and one
should avoid marriage, politics, wealth and power.
They are also building libraries and stuffing them full of the writing of the historians,
philosophers and the dramatists. This means there are lots of copies of the great writers' works
scattered in these libraries from Spain* to India and especially in Alexandria* (332 BCE) in
Egypt*. This will become the cultural center of the universe for scholars.
The new and rebuilt theatre buildings are not that much different from the old ones. The seats
stop at a half-circle (instead of extending slightly past) which makes the orchestra a semicicrle. This doesn't matter very much because the new plays don't use the orchestra, anyway.
There is definitely a raised stage, and this is where the action is. The scene house gets more
so, and bigger, two to three stories, with plenty of room for decoration and scenery. The three
doors are standard architectural features, with room on each end for another entrance (making
five entrances in all). There are a number of these theatres still in good enough shape to put on
shows in them and they still show these basic features. One or two are used for regular theatre
presentations now.
The Hellenistic Period (323-30 BCE)
Moving To Rome* By Way Of Alexandria*
When Alexander* dies in 323 BCE his empire is split up among his generals. The Egyptian
one under General Ptolemy* will last until the death of Cleopatra*. We need a momentary
digression here to look at one of the many cities Alexander* founded and named for himself,
the Alexandria* in Egypt. Here Ptolemy* carries out Aristotle's ideas of the systematic
organization of knowledge. He sets up a museum (meaning a place that was in the service of
the Muses) which becomes the first university in the world. It included a college of learned
men engaging in research, recording and some teaching. They are terrific in mathematical and
geographic work (considering Alexander's* considerable travels, it's not surprising). Some of
the big men on campus include: Euclid*, Archimedes*, Eratothenes* (who measured the size
of the earth to within fifty miles of its true diameter) and a number of others engaged in things
like cataloguing and mapping stars. The medical school is equally famous, boasting the
greatest anatomist and developing the science of drugs. For the first time in the world's history
a standard of professional knowledge is set up.
* Ptolemy* also creates the great library*. It combines a state library and a state publishing
industry. The library* is encyclopedic and every unknown book brought to Egypt* is copied
for the collection. Keep in mind that a "book" is really a long roll of sheepskin. Many copyists
worked making duplicates of all the popular and useful works. One of the scholars,
Callimachus*, develops a system for breaking up the long works into "books" or volumes that
can be put on separate rolls. This really makes finding a particular spot in a manuscript a lot
easier. The library* works as a university press, putting out copies of the scholars' works and
selling books. The arrangement and cataloging of the accumulation is systematically worked
out. The library* attracts a terrific crowd of students.
Alexandria* becomes a factory of religious ideas. It has the largest Jewish population in the
world. In the 200's BCE Buddhist missionaries come from India and there is a colony of
Indian traders in the city. The men of this society seem to require deities with an outlook at
least as big as Alexander's* empire. With this outlook in mind, Ptolemy* sets up a religious
center, the Serapeum*, devoted to a trinity of gods. [This will have a real impact on the much
later rise of Christianity]. These gods include Serapis* (that is Osiris* plus Apis*, the sacred
bull), Isis* (who is equal to Hathor*, the cow-moon goddess), and Horus*. Almost every
other god is identified in one way or another with one of these three aspects of the one god,
especially the Sun god Mithras* of the Persians*. The idea of immortality becomes a growing
and increasingly important one that reaches far beyond Egypt.*
Rome
While all this is going on in the Greek-dominated Hellenistic world, the Romans* are busy
getting rid of the Etruscans* (they finish this job by 295 BCE). Nothing much is going on in
Greece* where the states keep fighting each other. The Carthaginians* are getting to be the
big power in the western Mediterranean. In the Eastern end, Rome* is beginning to be where
the action is. Keep in mind that there is Greek theatre all over, especially in southern Italy*
and Sicily*. Since we have good records from the Romans* we know tons of things about
how they got started and kept on going. Plutarch* and Livy* wrote all about the rise of Rome.
We don't need to go into too much here, but there are a couple of mileposts that will help us
understand this new power rising in Italy.
The forum* is pretty much the center of their world. It literally means "outside the door" but
as the tribe grows into a nation it comes to mean both "market place" and "Meeting place".
This pretty much tells us who these people are, they're a bunch of businessmen, entrepreneurs
and administrators of conglomerates. It is always extend the trade, consolidate the markets
and keep the peace so business can boom. But first they have to get some peace and some
organization.
They've gone to school with the Etruscans* and with the Greeks (remember they sent some
senators to study Solon's* laws?). So this Latin tribe starts out with a small patch of land just
southwest of Rome*, ruled by a king. Somewhere around 509 BCE they get rid of the king
business and start a republic This is something like the Spartans have (there was a rumor that
the Romans were really Spartans but that sounds fishy). Anyway, they have a council of
elders (senatus) made up of the nobility (patricians*) picked by the king. It doesn't have much
power at this stage but it gets to pick the next ruler when the old one dies. There is a tribal
assembly of all citizens (patricians and plebeians* or common people) who gets to witness,
and even vote, on some things.
About 471 BCE things take a turn for the one-step-better in running things. They give a little
more power to the people and let them elect a tribune* (now here's a word that's confusing
because it refers both to a military commander and, as in this case, to someone whose job it is
to protect the plebes* against the powers that be). And, one tribune leads to another. Well,
once there's the smell of liberty and freedom in the air, there's no stopping the Roman citizens.
Now there is a popular army, a citizen assembly and a senate and a growing body of laws.
But, what with fighting the Gauls, and then beating up on the Greeks* (275 BCE) in Magna
Graecia* (you remember, that southern part of Italy and most of Sicily*) and finally busting
up the Carthaginians*, it takes a while to get the system up and running. By the end of the
Macedonian Wars* (214-148 BCE) they'are pretty much ready to start becoming a world
power.
How They Got To Be Romans

From Greek Imitations Through Technical Innovation
This cultural difference between the Greeks and the Romans brings up a real problem. The
Greeks are important for what they did, the Romans for how they did it. One of the key
differences seems to be that Romans are eternal warriors. Most of their energies are devoted
to extending and defending their borders, and fighting the barbarians. The very idea of
"barbarians" is a new one because the Greeks dealt mainly with other civilized states. The
Romans are surrounded by a raft of uncivilized tribes. As a result they regard almost
everbody, except the Greeks, as barbarians.
So we have to shift gears here and try to understand why the Romans are as they are, and
make the kind of society they do. We will have to spend much more time on things that don't
seem to relate to theatre at all. Just keep in mind that the society they build, its values and its
structure, form the basis for all western societies, and consequently, all the western theatre,
that will follow. For them, theatre is just entertainment, but they change it, almost beyond
recognition. They preside over the rise of Christianity and the biggest, longest running empire
in the west. When we leave the Romans, we will leave civilization and organized society
behind for a very long time.
The Etruscan* Connection
So far it has been easy to follow the development of theatre because we were dealing with one
culture, the Ionian Greeks. Now we begin to encounter the differences that cultures make as
we move to Rome*. At this transition time we need to take a step back in time and examine
how things developed in the Italian area. Back then, Italy was a hodge podge of cultures, most
of them barbarians. The main peoples were the Etruscans, the Greeks, and the uncivilized
Latin tribes [from among these, one tribe would become the Romans]. The Greeks we know
about. The other two main cultures (Etruscan and Roman,) each had strong traits quite
different from the Greeks. These traits will make a world of difference in the development of
theatre.
ITALIAN TIMELINE FROM 1000 BCE
ca. 1000 BCE semi-barbarian tribes in Italy

[ King David rules in Judea ]
ca. 800-750 BCE Etruscans become an organized presence in Italy
ca. 750-600 BCE height of Etruscan power
The Etruscans*
We need to examine with the mysterious Etruscans* first because they seem to have
contributed the most to the Roman character. Mysterious they are, both because we know
very little about these people who established a vibrant civilization over much of Italy, and
because what we do know about them is fragmentary and strange. Before they established a
going society in northern Italy, there were only scattered bronze age cultures on the Italian
peninsula.
This was back in the dark age of Greece, between the Mycenae bunch and the dawn of
classical Greece. It was a time of ferment all over the Mediterranean. Waves of invaders
poured down into southern Europe. The Phoenicians* were pushed westward out of Asia
Minor and established a great colony at Carthage* on the North African coast and in Spain*
and waves of iron using Indo-European Latin tribes invaded Italy from the north. The last
invading tribe settled in the Alban hills around what would become Rome*.
Meanwhile, on the western coast of Italy, a new non-Latin tribe was emerging as a dominant
force in the area of Tuscany*, spreading north and south of this cultural center. They
gradually pushed the local Latin tribes further back into the hills and forests. The part of Italy
they dominated came to be called Etruia*.
These Tuscany* tribes came to be known as the Etruscans*. They seem to have many
characteristics of Asia Minor* peoples and may have migrated from Anatolia* across the
northern edge of the Adriatic. There is an old and dubious story that they were the survivors
of the fall of Troy. Many of their talents and characteristics will be adopted by the later
Romans. They were hard, war-like and determined. They had a body of laws and a passion for
divination. Everything they did depended on omens and signs read by their priest-kings. The
Romans will ditch the king business but adopt this divination business, lock, stock and barrel.
The Etruscans* were great city planners and architects. They came up with the arch and a grid
layout for their cities. They were engineers, digging tunnels through hills, draining swamps,
diverting rivers and becoming expert miners and metal producers. The Romans really latch on
to this architectural and engineering business and will become known as a society of builders.
Another quite different range of characteristics will be picked up by the Romans. The
Etruscans were really crazy about blood and sex. They had terrific gladiator battles for every
occasion (especially their funeral games), sexual freedom, luxurious living and loose moral
codes. The Romans are appalled at the equality Etruscan women enjoyed, but they will adopt
the rest of the blood and sex attitudes.
The Etruscans* owed much of their civilization to the Greek influence they encountered on
their southern borders. The Etruscans were especially crazy about the works of Homer*.
Greek mythology is found throughout their art and may have influenced their religion as well.
Their god Turms*, for example, was identical with the Greek Hermes who conducted the
souls of the dead to the underworld.
OLD ROMAN GODS
Before they became Romans, the Latin tribe had their own gods of the woodland, hearth,
harvest, storms, clear skies, and budding time, all of these they carried with them throughout
their long history. The names of these gods might change but they always remained at the
heart of Roman religion. Many of these minor gods and spirits left a rich legacy in their
names: Genius* , (a spirit which protects an individual all through life);
Faunus* (woodlands);
Pomona* (orchards, especially apples);
Silvanus* (timber lots and boundary stones);
Pales* (guarded shepherds);
Robigus* (brought blight to crops).
There were many ghosts of the dead (remnants of the beliefs of the Etruscans) Manes*, who
hovered endlessly and had to be propitiated. Many magic spells and incantations survive into
republican times.
There are really two different forms of worship among the Romans, that of the household and
that of the state. Both make use of the lessons from the Etruscans concerning omens,
auspicious signs and rituals.
The high priest of the household is the paterfamilias (father of the family). He has the power
of life and death, his word is law and through him the gods work. He is guardian of the
family, making the ritual offerings to the lares* (spirits of the land) and penates* (spirits of
stored food), the guardian spirits of the home. They foster gaiety and good living and are
invoked especially when the family sits together at a meal. They survive down into the middle
ages and may be found even today in Italian villages. Other aspects of their religion differed
from the Greeks. They were extremely rigid in their religious views. There were rites for
everything and these had to be accurately done in every detail. If anything went wrong the
whole thing had to be done over from the beginning. The Romans would adopt this rigidity in
doing rituals correctly.
In founding a new city the Etruscans* followed specific religious rites, beginning with a shaft
in the center (this was supposed to lead directly to the underworld) called mundus (as were
the heavens). The mundus shaft was covered with a great stone ("the stone of souls") which
was raised on special days, for depositing the first fruits and on the three days the dead were
allowed to mingle with the living. The notion of the "center" of town was enormously
significant for the Etruscans. (We might note that the Greeks did none of this. They did,
however, believe in the importance of the idea of the omphalion, the navel of the universe.
Stone representations of the omphalion can be found all over and were regarded as sacred by
many cultures.)
The city is planned in a circle with two main thoroughfares which intersect at the mundus
shaft, dividing the city into quarters. This division is then subdivided into many wedges of the
circle. [This city plan can be seen in Washington, D.C.] The circular view and its divisions
reflects their view of the universe. Each segment of the heavens has its own meaning and
diviners search the heavens carefully for omens. The word temple comes from the Etruscans
and originally meant that part of the heavens in which omens are found. The Romans love the
temple idea and build them everywhere and for every possible purpose.
The Etruscans* were crazy about music, dance, and the same range of theatrical farces,
mimes, etc. we found in early Greece*. They took to Greek theatre in a big way and did a lot
of their own variations of farces. The Etruscan variations will be adopted by Rome.
For two hundred years the Etruscans*, Greeks* and Carthaginians* rival each other in
commerce and piracy throughout the Mediterranean. On the mainland of Italy Etruia*
expands and builds cities at Bologna, Rimini and Ravenna and Spina on the Adriatic*.
Changes In Power In Italy*
In 753 BCE the Etruscans* are busy founding the town of Rome*. For years the Etruscans*
have met and traded with the Greeks at the banks of the Tiber river which marks the southern
boundary of Etruia. It is a natural place for a town and they lay it out in their usual methodical
fashion over the well known seven hills. The Etruscans* govern the Latin tribes and the town
of Rome* where they rule from 616 BCE to 510 BCE as the dynasty of Tarquins. They are,
like the Greeks, a loose confederation of city-states, but unlike the Greeks they are ruled by
priest-kings.
753 BCE founding of Rome*
616 to 510 BCE Rome ruled by Etruscan Tarquins*
The Romans Finally Become Romans
After two hundred years of learning the ways of civilization under the Etruscans*, the
Romans finally get the hang of it and begin to put their unique talents for organization and
administration to work. Having picked up a good deal from the Greeks on how to organize a
successful society, in 509 BCE they throw out the last of the Etruscan* Kings along with the
whole notion of kingship, and found their Roman Republic.
509 BCE Romans throw out Tarquins and found the Roman Republic
c.500-c.350 BCE warfare against neighbors
c.494 BCE tribunate established
c. 451 BCE Twelve Tables, first written code of Roman Law
THE ROMAN CHARACTER - Roman society depends upon the Roman character for its
meaning and stability. These Romans are hard and unyeilding, thrifty, cautious and simple in
their tastes. The ideal is much like the Spartan*, the Roman citizen-soldier. He is stoic, hard-
headed, self-disciplined with a flint-like character. These are the old virtues, remembered with
veneration but seldom followed by later generations.
This citizen-soldier is also the paterfamilias* (father of the family) and has the power of life
and death over his wife and children, demanding absolute loyalty and obedience. The
paterfamilias view of society enables the Romans to look on conquered lands as a Roman
family. Their conquered subjects are treated as children who might, if properly managed and
taught, grow up to be Roman citizens.
THE MILITARY - In matters military the Romans pick up the best of the Greek models and
all of the military skills and equipment developed by the Etruscans. They also take over the
Etruscan emblems, the axe and the bundle of sticks [fasces*] which symbolize the leader's
absolute authority. With these skills and equipment they begin their conquest of their part of
the world. First to fall are their neighbors.
RELIGION - The Romans sometimes address their prayers to an unknown deity "whether
god or goddess". That about sums up the Roman religion. They accumulate gods
indiscriminately and take care to honor them all, even when they have forgotten their names.
The real Roman religion is military conquest.
Romans are trained to a sense of duty (pietas and gravitas,) a conscious acceptance of
burdens. The Roman religion (from religare meaning to bind) is a contract between men and
divinities to gain favor. There is no real moral code involved. Morality turns up in the notion
of paterfamilias and in philosophical views (like the Stoic and Epicurean which the Romans
take to eagerly), but not in religion.
MAJOR OLD ROMAN GODS
JANUS* - The chief god of these early days is JANUS. At various times he is
the sun, the thunderer, the sky, but always he is the god of beginnings and of
doorways. He is present in every household and even after he has been
replaced as chief god he is always invoked before all others at the beginning of
any enterprise. His former place as god of war is remembered in a small temple
in the Forum where the temple gates were thrown open in times of war and
closed in peace.
DIANA* - Early on she is connected with Janus. She evolves from a woodland
spirit. Her power is over the cycles of the moon and women. Gradually she
becomes the goddess of fertility, protectress of the woods and huntsmen. She
will remain a power unchanged throughout the ages of Rome. The attributes of
the Greek Artemis* will also become hers.
VESTA* - As goddess of the hearth flame, which is kept burning continually,
she is the symbol of communal life, continuity of the family and its welfare.
Ritual offerings are made in each household and each tribe has its own public
hearth. These are tended only by maidens called vestal virgins* who offer
special prayers in honor of that hearth. Vesta, too, remains unchanged through
the course of Roman history. In Rome a round temple shaped like the ancient
hut houses the sacred flame of the state. The Vestal virgins are sacrosanct and
have a mysterious power as long as they remain virgins. The sacred flame
continues to burn long after Christian times and is extinguished only in 382
CE.
More Changes In Power In Italy*
The Roman conquest of Veii in 396 BCE marks the beginning of the decline of Etruscan*
power in Italy. The Romans (along with the rest of the Italians) have a big set back when the
barbarian Gauls swept down out of the north, into Italy in the 390's. They beat the Romans
soundly, sack Rome and leave it a smoking ruin. The fierce Gauls will threaten the Romans
off and on until Rome finally falls. Gaulish invaders force the Romans to develop their
military tactics and skills and harden their views of military control. It is a significant
experience the Romans never forget. It delays the development of Roman society and because
of this experience, the nature of the Roman Republic will change in the period of recovery.
396 BCE conquest of Veii against Etruscans
390 BCE invasion of Italy by Gauls, Rome is destroyed and occupied
316 BCE subjection of Latin tribes around Rome
250 BCE Eturia absorbed by Rome
THE REPUBLIC - While the Roman Republic is less democratic than the society the
Ionians had put together, it has some of the standards the western world will look to for
models for over a thousand years. It centers on two consular magistrates, a senate, and a
popular assembly.
Somewhere around 367 BCE the clash between the plebs (the common citizens) and the
aristocracy (rich land owners) is resolved and a new law requires one of the consuls be chosen
from the plebs. This break-through leads to a series of laws limiting the privileges of the
aristocracy. A temple to Concord is built at the northwest corner of the Forum as a perpetual
reminder of the new relationship between the aristocracy and the people. The essential
elements of a working democracy are finally hammered out by the middle of the first century
BCE. From beginning to end, the Republic manages to survive for about three hundred years
and remains a glowing memory in the minds of the Romans through the fall of Rome. It also
provides a model for many later societies looking for alternatives to Kings and Princes.
ENTERTAINMENT APPEARS According to Livy* (in his history), scenic entertainments are introduced in 364 BCE to
disarm the wrath of the gods when a two year long pestilence is raging. Almost all
entertainments are performed in the guise of an effort to entertain the gods. As the Roman
society progresses, it adds celebrations called festivals for every religious occasion: funerals,
victories and gods' special days. After a time nearly every day is devoted to a local feast to
some god and festivals and games are provided for the more prominent ones. Eventually there
are so many holidays that it interfers with the normal affairs of business and government.
Meanwhile expansion was taking place. By 250 BCE Eturia is part of the Roman political
system and they now are ready to pick up the pieces of Alexander's disintegrating empire. As
the Romans grow in territory they also became experienced in their system of governing
conquered lands. Each conqured territory becomes a Roman colony with a Roman garrison to
keep the peace and see that Roman laws are obeyed. Settlements are made whereby a few
people have some independence and others are incorporated into the Roman system. The
policy is very successful. Many people begin to enjoy some of the rights of Roman
citizenship.
DIVINE MISSIONARIES
The gods fight on the side of the Romans. The Romans believe they are serving a divine
purpose and regard war as a religious vocation. The general in command will sometimes offer
himself as a devotion, a willing sacrifice. With prayers and magical rites to induce the gods to
visit the enemy with fear and death, he will hurl himself into battle. The devotion then
becomes a shaman, a religious leader in communion with the gods, possessed of superhuman
powers. If he dies in battle there are no further ceremonies and he will be remembered with
gratitude. If he survives, an image of him is buried seven feet deep and a guilt offering is
made. He is never again permitted to participate in religious ceremonies and becomes a nonperson. The site where the image is buried is now a sacred spot.
All this may seem very esoteric and obscure but the overall pattern will become the model for
western societies down into our own century. Consider how familiar it is: the notion that the
society is an obedient family led by stern but caring paternal leaders; and that society has a
divine mission to spread its rule to other lands, bringing peace and order; providing the state
with wealth and goods from the conquered lands. Every western society from Roman times on
will see itself as a true Roman state embracing every territory in its paternal rule of law and
conferring the benefits of culture and rule.
So it is that the Romans subdue the Samnites across eastern and southern Italy. Gold and
treasure from the Samnites pave the way for further conquest. rThe Greek colonies in
southern Italy were next but they prove more difficult. Carthage dominates the western
Mediterranean from the African coast. Its empire stretches along north Africa through the
Pillars of Hercules (straits of Gibraltar) and Spain, Sardinia and Sicily. They are next on the
list for Roman conquest and the Punic wars (against Carthage) begin (264-241 BCE and 218201 BCE). After the defeat of Carthage, Spain and all foreign trading posts fall to Rome, and
the Mediterranean becomes a Roman lake.
Afterword
By the time we are concerned with Rome and the Romans, those mysterious Etruscans* have
vanished into the hills and rocks of Italy. All of which brings us back to the progress of
theatre from Greece to Rome by way of Alexandria. As we noted earlier, by the end of the
Macedonian Wars* (214-148 BCE) Rome is pretty much ready to start becoming a world
power. In order to take on this leadership role, they feel the need of more cultural polish. For
this, they will, of course, turn to Greece and all things Greek. The literature, myths, and, most
of all, the theatre, are gradually rebuilt in the Roman mold and spread abroad as the Roman
Empire grows. The Romans are great imitators, adaptors, organizers and administrators. They
take the Greek theatre, plays and practice, produce them, imitate them and spread theatre over
all the territory they, in their turn, will conquer.
NOTE: I am indebted to H. G. Wells' The Outline of History for calling my attention to the
importance and influence of Ptolemy and his work in establishing the cultural center of the
western world in Alexandria. Its' importance in the generation and transmission of ideas can't
be overstated.
The Roman Fasces would be picked up by later civilizations, especially the Nazis and
Mussolini's "Fascist" regime.
next chap4
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CHAPTER FOUR
The Romans
From Greek Imitations Through Technical Innovation
Introduction
As Rome changes from a republic into an empire, Roman cultural attitudes are revealed in
their ideas of theatre. They completely miss the Greek idea of theatre as a contest, a forum for
cultural ideas. Instead, the Romans turn their theatre into entertainment on a grand scale. All
this theatrical activity leads to a wide range of technical innovation in architecture, scenery
and all visual elements; but it doesn't do much for theatre literature.
At the height of the Roman Empire there are many theatre buildings. The ones in Rome are
mostly devoted to terrifically extravagant shows that are supposed to entertain the masses.
But, out in the provinces, regular plays are widely done. The theatrical heritage they get from
the Greeks continues to be performed in Latin, through Roman translations, imitations and
adaptations of Greek comedy and tragedy. These all add Roman elements, as we can see in
the plays of Plautus*, Terence* and Seneca*, whose writings, together with those of Horace,
wll be found in libraries and book collections throughout the empire. Latin documents,
numerous theater buildings, and the living tradition of hardy performers, all these, will ensure
that the glory of Greek theatre and its Roman imitations survive. These will provide the
foundations for cultural enrichment and the rise of a Renaissance theatre a thousand years
later.
Roman Culture Blossoms
During the Punic Wars several significant things are happening in Rome. The conquests are
bringing in uncounted wealth and the increase in the trade business booms. The old
aristocracy of three hundred senators tightens their hold on the government so that it becomes
an oligarchy, run by the exclusive senate club. The number of slaves increases with each
conquest and the rich estates grow with all this free labor. Small landowners are forced off
their land and flock to the city, swelling the restless mob.
With all this wealth, all the cheap slave labor, increased trade and traffic and the rising
importance of Rome, a building boom takes off. The paved road, the Appian Way, which had
been begun in 312 BCE is extended and other roads built. The Aqua Appia which carries
water is improved. New temples are constructed to include the statues brought from looted
Greek Syracuse.
The rising population demands more entertainment and amusement. There have been chariot
races and gladiator battles and festivals, but now the number and length increases. For
example, the new year opens in March with days of ceremonies, processions and celebrations.
The vestal flame is rededicated. There is a great clanging as the sacred shields were removed
from the temple of Mars. The twelve Salii dance in processions through the city, stopping at
all the temples and shrines and feasting every night, all to the accompaniment of trumpet
blasts. This is a typical event. Throughout the year every month brings festivals, some merry,
some solemn.
Greek influence from the conquered colonies in Italy and Sicily is evident all over Rome.
Thousands of books from captured libraries, Greek artists, teachers, traders and slave-tutors
pours into Rome bringing dazzling vistas of a superior culture and new horizons of the mind.
Greek philosophy and Hellenistic culture attract rich youth who go to Athens to study. Greek
ideas are imported along with treasure.
Adaptations of Greek plays appear. Romans take to playwriting and production as the number
and variety of festivals swells. But they are all played in temporary playing spaces, put up for
festivals and then dismantled. The city sees no need for permanent playhouses. The Roman
view of theatre is totally different from the Greek originators.
ROMAN LEADERS DURING ERA OF SENATE SUPREMACY
c.275 - c.110 BCE
DATES BCE
LEADER
EVENTS
c.265-217
Gaius Flaminius
Punic Wars with Carthage
237-183
Scipio Africanus Major Macedonian wars and Asian foothold
234-149
Cato the Elder
185-129
Scipio Africanus Minor Third Punic war Carthage destroyed
163-133
Tiberius Gracchus
Province of Asia goes to Rome
153-121
Gaius Gracchus
social reforms and African wars
Dalmatia is Romanized
HOW ROMAN THEATRE DIFFERS FROM GREEK

As the Romans begin to write and produce plays on a regular basis the differences between
the two cultures become strikingly obvious. The Greeks had introduced theatre into their
religious festivals as part of a whole range of contests. These contests were religious in that
they were designed to reveal the best in human endeavor, thereby celebrating human
relationship with the gods.
The Romans, with a very different sense of the religious, introduce theatre into their festivals
to provide entertainment for the Roman mobs. The state religion has no desire or need for a
contest and there is no attempt to provide playwrights or actors with prizes. Theatre is strictly
a commercial entertainment for the populace.
LUDI- THE FESTIVALS IN ROME
There are Ludi for every occasion: funerals, votives, dedications, victories, and
of course, in honor of various gods. Not all Ludi include theatre as a regular
part of their festivities, but the major ones do. The year begins in March.
Liberalia in honor of the ancient god Liber, requiring unrestrained
merrymaking. March.
Ludi Megalenes* - The Games of the Great Mother (Cybele) are held in April
under the direction of patrician officials. These are started in 204 BCE and
plays are staged ten years later.
April also includes festivals for Tellus (mother of earth); Ceres (bringer of
fruitfulness); Jupiter (broaching the first wine) and at the end comes The
Floria* - The Festival of Flowers which originates later and only includes
mimes. These performances begin in 173 BCE
In April there are celebrations for Tellus, mother of Earth, and for Ceres,
bringer of fruitfulness.
Ludi Apollinares- The Games of Apollo are held in July under the direction of
the city official. These begin in 212 BCE and include plays almost from the
beginning.
Ludi Romani - in honor of Jupiter, are held in September and run by patrician
officials. Plays are presented beginning in 240 BCE. Beginning in 214 BCE
there are four days of performances.
Ludi Plebei- the Plebeian Games are held in November under the direction of
plebeian officials. Introduced in 220 BCE, the first staging of plays is about
200 BCE.
Saturnalia comes in December .
In Greece the great plays had been written by prominent citizens to explore ideas of
consequence to the society. In Rome plays are written by slaves and emancipated slaves to
produce an income and build a productive career. Greek actors were honored by the state,
employed as ambassadors and revered as members of a religious guild. Roman actors are
usually slaves and have no standing in a society in which, by and large, they are not even
citizens.
The Greek productions were paid for by the state and produced for the special event. They
may have been reproduced at other events or recreated in the colonies but the individual way
in which a production was put together seems to have been the same.
In Rome each festival is run by a magistrate who gets a government grant, which he then
supplements with his own funds. The magistrate is out to further his own political ambitions
and theatrical producers are careful not to offend any member of a politically influential
family.
(hardly the climate for controversial subject matter.) Roman theatre is partially
subsidized in this fashion by the state, but the basic fee is never enough for the elaborate show
the magistrates have in mind.
Festivals hire their plays, ready made, from theatrical companies run by a dominus gregis, or
theatrical producer. The producer is usually a free man with a company of slave (and
occasionally free) actors (infames, that is, deprived of certain political rights) who have a
repertoire of plays ready. The producer buys plays or writee them himself with the intention
of making a profit from them.
The producer might also act in his own productions and the names which come down to us
tend to be those of actor-managers. The best known of these is Quintus Roscius* (c. 126-62
BCE), regarded as the greatest Roman comic actor. A friend of Cicero, he is honored by Sulla
with the gold ring of the equestrian rank. However, such a social rise is rare.
Actors are skilled entertainers, able to excel in rhetorical and oratorical skills, dance and
pantomime. They might also be musicians, or be accompanied by musicians. An actor who is
highly skilled might be able to buy his freedom and become a producer himself. The
profession is definitely upwardly mobile, at least in aspirations. Eventually there is a theatrical
guild for theatre people. Actors, writers, technicians and managers are artifices scaenici
(scenic artists). The guild is vaguely religious, associated with the goddess Minerva who is in
charge of skills. The guild never has the stature or social standing of its Greek counterpart.
Rather, it is similar to other skilled craft guilds.
GREAT OLD ROMAN GODS AND THE GREEK CONNECTION
These gods hold the destiny of the state. They are spectacular and powerful,
remote from the lives of the ordinary person. Their origins are often minor.
Many of the Greek gods are simply appropriated into the Roman pantheon and
given Roman names.
MARS* - Originally the god of ripening grain, he becomes the god of war
Ares*.
JUNO* - Originally Uni, she comes to Rome with Jupiter and becomes Hera*.
MINERVA* - Originally Menerva, she takes over the functions of the Greek
Athena.
APOLLO* - He doesn't even change his name.

VENUS* - Originally a goddess of flowers she takes Aphrodite's* functions
and becomes far greater. Her powers are the generative force of the universe,
in charge of fecundity and presiding over the destiny of Rome. She is often
called "greater" than Jupiter because she creates all things.
CERES* - The ancient Roman goddess of agriculture takes on all the attributes
of the Greek Demeter*. She is served by Greek women speaking Greek.
MERCURY* - From the Greek Hermes*.
NEPTUNE* - Originally a god of fresh water, he takes over from Poseidon*.
BACCHUS* - Brought back by veterans of eastern campaigns, Dionysus*.
GREATEST ROMAN GOD
JUPITER* - Originally he was the god of oak forests, thunder and rain, and
maintainer of peace. It is he who presides over tribal loyalties and oaths. He
can be found in various forms:
Jupiter Lapis - as a stone or meteorite
Jupiter Pluvius - bringer of rain
Jupiter Fulminator - hurling lightning
Jupiter Tonans - thunder
He gradually takes on characteristics of the Etruscan Tinia* (sky god) and the
Greek Zeus*. Finally he becomes Jupiter Optimus Maximus* the best and
greatest of all gods, protector of the state and people, supreme legislator of
their destinies.
Although he is made up of attributes from many gods, he has his own peculiar
nature that is essentially Roman. He is, in one sense, the only god of the
Romans. The others serve as mere adornments for his throne and derive their
power from his.
He is rigid, remote, concerned with law and morality, justice and truth, the
archetypal image of the paterfamilias ruling over the family of Romans. He
forms the center of the state religion and the pontiffs of his temple on the
Capitoline have their colleges and there they guard the divine law.
Roman Theatre Begins

It is here, near the end of the First Punic War, that we find the first Roman theatre
productions. The earliest theatrical writer we know anything of is Livius Adronicus*, but he
remains only a name. He translates Greek comedy and tragedy for production in the festivals
but none of his work survives. It is quite a challenge to turn a highly developed literary form
in one language into a successful version in a different language. The Latin language is just
beginning to establish literary standards and guidelines. This problem of developing a literary
style for emerging languages will become even more important in later periods and languages.
* The fabula Atellana is ther local name for the Atellan farce and mime, greatly loved by the
populace. These are minor forms early on, but by the the first century BCE they take over and
begin to be written down. Farce will continue to be the most popular form of theatre for the
next thousand (or more) years.
We know of several other playwrights of this period who turn the tragedies of Euripides* into
Latin productions. These tragedies are produced with a short farce provided as an intermission
piece and often as an afterword or epilogue. Playwrighting becomes so prevalent that a
College of Playwrights is founded [see below]. The comedies of Menander* are also widely
translated and produced, but simply knowing that these are being done doesn't tell us very
much about the plays themselves.
By the end of the Second Punic War, however, we have Plautus*, and here we find a theatre
artist in full bloom. He is the first playwright whose plays we have copies of and, like Livius
Andronicus*, we know he is also an actor, director, and manager of a successful theatre
troupe.
It is with Roman comedy that we come to familiar ground. Totally unlike the Old Greek
comedy, it is apparently adapted from the New Comedy of Menander, but the emphasis is
purely Roman. Gone is any any concern with the well being of the state and its citizens.
Instead, we find domestic comedy concerned with sons who chafe at the tyranny of the
paterfamilias, sexual romps, deceptions and hilarious confusions. We can find direct
counterparts today, on any television sitcom.
The productions are professionally mounted, complete with scenery, costumes and masks.
Plays are written to be sold, and, if successful, they become part of the theatre companies'
repertoire. The colors of the costumes tell the nature of the characters: old men wear white;
young men wear purple; parasites (the clever man who lives off others) wear grey; and
courtesans (hired female companions) wear yellow. The costumes in the works of both
Plautus and Terence* are short garments loosely based on Greek clothes for those comedies
remained set in Greece (fabula palliata). Later authors change the setting of the plays to Rome
(fabula togata) and base their costumes on the Roman dress.
The masks* are another informative visual element. They are made in one piece, usually of
linen, covering the whole head, including hair. The color of the hair reveals information too:
white tells of old age; black shows youth; red is reserved for slaves (no doubt from the Gauls
and Celts). There are typical masks for the standard characters, although it is difficult to be
sure whether those used in comedy are the same as those which will soon come to be used in
the farces. Masks for female characters and young men tend to be more natural. Those for the
stereotyped characters are highly exaggerated.
These masks and the characters they represent are worth more than a passing
note. The characters are prehistoric comic types and in Rome they take on the
basic forms in which they will appear down to the present day.
Young hero Parasite -(flatterer)

Testy Old Man - Pappus
Braggart Warrior - The Mother-in-law
Miles Glorious and Cicirrus The Wife
Pendant (Learned Man) - Dossennus The Heroine (Immorata)
Comic Slaves - Maccus Female Slave -saucy maid
Bucco Old Hag
Cook - (glutton) Artful woman - Carissa
The scenery used on these temporary stages is less well known. The plays all take place in the
street of a city. There are usually three doorways up stage leading to three different houses or
two houses and a street. Some times there are five doorways with the extreme right and left
leading to other streets. This street location will last as a comic setting into the Renaissance. It
is not until later, with other types of entertainment, that scenic design makes real progress.
Roman Writers c.275 BCE - c.110 BCE
During The Era Of Senate Supremacy
Livius Adronicus, Lucius* c. 284-204 BCE
He is a Greek slave from Tarentum. After he is freed he teaches school and translates Homer
into Latin. He is regarded as the founder of Roman literary drama. He becomes a dramatist,
actor, director and producer. In 240 BCE he produces the first Latin adaptations of a Greek
comedy and a Greek tragedy. These are put on as part of the games celebrating the end of the
First Punic War. Only fragments of his work survive and even the titles are somewhat
dubious. He writes both comedies and tragedies.
Naevius, Gnaeus c.? to 201 BCE His dramatic career runs from 235 BCE until his death. We
have only numerous fragments and 30 titles of his works. His chief claim to fame is an epic
The Punic War. He is regarded as the first to write national Roman tragedy as contrasted with
adaptations of the Greek subjects. It is also possible that he starts the practice of
"contamination", adapting from the Greek comedy by combining two or more plays.
In 207 BCE the College of Playwrights* is founded mainly in honor of Andronicus. This
grows into the College of Poets*. A Temple of Minerva is built to house the meetings of the
poets.
Ennius, Quintus 239-169 BCE Roman poet and playwright. He will be called the "Father of
Latin Poetry". We have extensive fragments of his work. He comes from southern Italy and is
brought to Rome by Cato the Elder. Despite his wealthy acquaintances he remaines poor and
shares a house with another poet Caecilius. He is best known for an epic poem The Annals
and translations from Greek. He is credited with at least 20 tragedies, apparently based on the
works of Euripides; two comedies and two dramas on Roman subjects.
Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 250-184 BCE) is born in Umbria. We know very little about him
other than he is an actor, producer and dramatist, and, he makes a living from his plays.
Probably this living comes from the income of his troupe of actors (grex). He bases his
comedies on the Greek New Comedy of the fourth and third centuries BCE His work reveals
the transformation of Latin literature by the Greeks
Plautus*' plays are set in some Greek city, often in Athens. The setting is vague and the
characters, although usually with Greek names, are distinctly Roman in outlook.
His influence (together with that of Terence*) extends down through modern times either by
direct imitation of particular plays or adaptations of his dramatic techniques.
We don't know how many plays Plautus* wrote and produced but over 130 are attributed to
him. Twenty-one plays survive, although most of them suffer from some missing lines and
puzzling constructions. The plays have complicated plots, strongly marked characters, lots of
love-making, revelry, trickery, debauchery, songs, puns and topical allusions. Think of the
Marx brothers and you will have a good grip on Plautus.
PLAUTUS PLAYS:
THE CAPTIVES (Captivi) late 3rd century BCE
THE TWIN MENAECHMI (Menaechmi) late 3rd century BCE
THE BRAGGART WARRIOR (Miles Gloriosus) c. 205 BCE
THE HAUNTED HOUSE (Mostellaria) early 2nd century BCE
TWO SISTERS NAMED BACCHIS(Bacchides)
THE POT OF GOLD(Aulularia) c. 194 BCE Pseudolus 191 BCE
AMPHITRYON c. 186 BCE Cistellaria c. 204 BCE
THE SAVAGE SLAVE (Truculentus) Stichus 200 BCE
THE LOT-DRAWERS (Casina) Rudens
[DUBIOUS: Mercator; Asinaria]
Caecilius Statius born c.239(-19) BCE, died 168 BCE. Writer of Roman comedy. He is
ranked with or above Plautus* and Terence*, with forty known play titles and three hundred
fragments surviving. His work is entirely adapted from the Greek New Comedy, mainly
Menander.
Polybius - c.205- c.125 BCE - historian
Pacuvius, Marcus - 220 - 130 BCE - He is regarded by Cicero as the greatest tragic writer. A
nephew of Ennius and fried of Accius, he is probably a member of the literary circle which
includes Terence*. 400 fragments of his work survive, and he will become noted for
producing unusual versions of myths.
Publius Terentius Afer ca.185-159 BCE known as TERENCE is born in Carthage and taken
to Rome as the slave of a senator where he is later freed. He will be regarded as the master of
Latin comedy, especially as regards literary style. His plays are based on the Greek works of
Menander* and Apollodorus*.
The extant plays of TERENCE* are: THE EUNUCH (Eunuchus) 161 BCE
THE WOMAN OF ANDROS (Andria) 166 BCE PHORMIO 161 BCE
THE SELF-TORMENTOR THE BROTHERS (Adelphi) 160 BCE
(Heauton Timorumenos) 163 BCE THE MOTHER-IN-LAW (Hecyra) 160
BCE
Lucilius* - 180 BCE - 102 BCE - satirist
Ten years before Plautus* dies, Terence* is born. By the time he has his first
play produced we are in a new era of entertainment. Plays are becoming more
literary and another theatrical form is becoming popular.
MIME Mimesare a well known Greek form, but when they appear in Rome they seem quite different.
We first hear of them in 212 BCE in Rome. These are short comic pieces used as tragedy
intermission and afterpiece replacements for farces. They include women, use no masks and
have elements of indecency. This makee it a Roman favorite. The mimes use much the same
buffoon characters as the comedy and farce but they are improvised. Mime companies play
anywhere and everywhere, on stage, in amphitheaters and circuses, in aristocrats homes and
in the street.
By 173 BCE, mimes are the mainstay of the festival Floria. In the next century Decimus
Laberius will put the mime into a literary form.
Rome And The Civil Wars

ca. 110 BCE - 27 BCE
After the wars with Carthage are over, Rome turns its military attention to the Eastern end of
the Mediterranean. Rome increases its manufacturing and raw materials pours in from all over
the growing empire. Public works expand and great stone bridges, aqueducts, drainage canals
and paved roads spread out in networks linking major communities throughout Italy. But
Rome has yet to build a single permanent theatre.
The political climate is changing as well. Still a republic in name, the government rests in the
hands of fewer and fewer senators. Revolution is side-stepped only by the murder of opposing
leaders. Opposition concerns opposing view points on morals and philosophy as well as
questions of power. For example, Scipio* Africanus, leader in Rome, is cultured, a great
admirer of Greek culture and learning. Cato*, on the other hand, becomes a puritanical power,
advocating the 'old virtues' and taxing the rich. Obviously Cato becomes a hero to the poor.
The power struggle between Scipio and Cato reveals some significant insights into the social
forces at work. Scipio grants a number of countries in Greece complete independence for their
help in defeating the Macedonians. It looks as though Greek culture will be blended into the
Roman world in peace and harmony. Cato is furious, he feels the only good foreigner is a
dead foreigner (or a slave) and that "decadent" Greek culture is ruining basic Roman values.
THE TRIUMPHANT PARADE AS ENTERTAINMENT
Scipio's* relatives have a series of military victories over Syria and other eastern powers,
bringing great wealth home to Rome. As usual, after a significant victory, a "triumph" is held.
This is a huge procession and parade, a lot like Mardi Gras, the Rose Bowl Parade and Macy's
all in one.* It is the most dazzling triumph seen in Rome (up to this time). It includes
hundreds of captured standards, over a thousand ivory tusks, thousands of pounds of silver
and gold and captive slaves without number.
THE STRUGGLES FOR POWER
Cato* bides his time and then gets the Senate to demand an accounting of all this captured
wealth. There is a bitter power struggle over a period of years and when the dust finally
clears, Cato has won and the cultural views of Scipio* go down in defeat along with his
power and influence. One of the by products of Cato's success is the final destruction of the
city Carthage which had dared to resume a trading empire. Their libraries are sacked and
scattered, not a single book survives. The city is razed, plowed under and salt is sown in the
soil. The Roman view has become one of total despotism and rule with an iron hand. There is
little left of Roman virtus, decency, sobriety and courage. "Virtue" has become bloodthirsty
and destructive.
ROMAN LEADERS DURING THE CIVIL WARS
c.110 BCE - 27 BCE
DATES
BCE
LEADER
EVENTS
c.155-86
Marius
barbarian Cimbri and Teutones repulsed in north
138-78
Sulla
social war in Italy,
86
Sulla
takes Athens,
82
Sulla
dictatorship of Sulla
c.115-53
Crassus*
73-71
slave revolt led by Spartacus
106-48
Pompey*
67-62
Pompey
subjugates Syria
60
(Crassus, Pompey, Caesar)
first triumvirate formed
58-51
Caesar
conquers Gaul
53
Crassus
and seven legions lost
49
Caesar
crosses Rubicon made dictator
100-44
Julius Caesar
48
Caesar
defeats Pompey
48-45
Caesar
campaigns in Egypt, Asia Minor, Africa and

Spain
44
Caesar
assassinated
c.82-30
Mark Anthony
43
(Anthony,
Lepidus)
42
Octavian,
second triumvirate formed

Battle of Philippi, Brutus dies
63-CE14
Octavian (Agustus)
31
Augustus
battle of Actium, Anthony and Cleopatra.

defeated
27
Octavian
founds principate and takes the name "Augustus"
Various Roman patricians attempt land reform to break up the vast holdings of the rich and
provide land for small farmers and discharged or retired soldiers. The attempts usually end
with hired mobs attacking the reformers in the streets and leaving them beaten to death. The
Senate treats reformers as they had the city of Carthage, total annihilation. Corruption
flourishs and Rome is a city for sale. Again it is successful military leaders who leads Rome
down the path to dictatorship.
Marius* is a farmer's son who despised the Senate. Sulla* is a patrician in favor of all
senatorial privileges. The two conflicting parties turn Rome into a private battle ground,
slaughtering countless numbers. A reign of terror grips Rome under Sulla's dictatorship. The
end comes only when Sulla abruptly retires to his estates in 79 BCE leaving a power vacuum.
Further power battles follow, leading finally to the collapse of the republic.
The expansion of the empire and influx of slaves brings other problems as well. The foreign
slaves bring social unrest in the clash of cultures and in 73 BCE Spartacus*, a Thracian
gladiator, leads a slave revolt of over ninety thousand desperate men. It takes the defeat of
several Roman armies ranging over central and southern Italy to bring the uprising to an end.
As usual, the military leader who accomplishes the job will rise to political prominence.
This time it is a follower of Sulla named Pompey*. He expects more than the current leader of
Rome, Crassus*, is willing to give and civil war threatens again. After more power struggles
have taken place (including the aborted Cataline* conspiracy) the bickering is resolved by a
clever, successful general named Caesar*. He manages to bring the two contenders together,
along with himself, to form a triple alliance and the First Triumvirate is established.
ROMAN WRITERS AND THEIR WORKS DURING THE CIVIL WARS
c.110 BCE - 27 BCE

Accius, Lucius* 170-c.84 BCE Writer of tragedies and reputed to be one of the
foremost playwrights. Originally a slave, he is educated in Rome and begins
his career about 140 BCE. We have more than forty titles and numerous
fragments of those based on Greek models. He also writes two Roman history
']plays and a poetics and a work on dramaturgy.
Varro, Marcus Terentius* 116-27 BCE Roman scholar and poet. His works are
lost. He writes extensively on drama and influences later scholars. These
include works on Roman theatrical history, earlier Roman writers, definitions
of genres, discussions of character portrayal, stock characters and six books of
"Pseudo-tragedies" (apparently to teach Cynic philosophy in play form). His
works on Plautus* establish the authenticity of the twenty-one plays we have
and identify nineteen others which are lost.
Pomponius, Lucius* (writes around 89 BCE) Only fragments survive. He will
be reputed to have raised the farce to the level of literature. He also writes
Roman comedy.
Decimus Laberius* d. 43 BCE - writes mimes, of which only fragments and
titles survive. He is a contemporary of Cicero and member of the equestrian
class. His works are colloquial, clever and saucy.
Cicero* 106 - 43 BCE - philosopher, statesman, orator.
Lucretius* 98 - 55 BCE - poet.
Sallust* c.86 BCE - c.34 BCE - historian
Catullus* c. 84 BCE - 54 BCE - poet
Vergil* 70 BCE - CE 17 - poet Aeneid
Livy* 59 BCE - CE 17 - historian History of Rome
Propertius* c.50 BCE - c.15 BCE - poet
Ovid* 43 BCE - CE 17 poet
Caesar* - 100 BCE - 44 BCE - history of his conquests
A NOTE ON SLAVES AND SLAVERY:
So far the term "slave" has been used in its ancient historical meaning (as encountered in the
bible, for example). The term "slave" needs to be understood as it relates to these societies.
Anyone captured in armed conflict can, and usually is, turned into a slave. These slaves are
parceled out among the leaders of the conquerors.
In Rome, most captured slaves are claimed as booty of the state. The rich land-owning
senators get first choice and the rest are sold (cheap when there are a lot of them, dear when
there are only a few). They represent additional wealth for the owners and the state. Most go
to work the land (farmers), work in the mines, power the ships, and other hard labor. These
make up the bulk of Spartacus' rebellion.
The skilled, trained, talented and literate captives are used according to their capacities and
talents. These are usually freed after a short time or earn enough to enable them to buy their
freedom. This category includes the actors, musicians and playwrights.
Until the empire reachs its ultimate size there is no shortage of captured combatants to be
enslaved. It is only later that a distinct shortage begins to occur. When the normal supply of
captured peoples begins to dry up, a real crisis developes.
Every urban society requires the labor of a large under class to supply the raw material for
manufacturing and consumption. At this point it becomes necessary either to undertake raids
into other lands for the sole purpose of acquiring slaves; or, to create a labor class within the
society. Rome tends to take the first option, but later barbarian invasions short-circuts the
problem before it is solved by the Romans.
Culture Flourishes Amid The Turmoil
Despite the power struggles and bloodshed the city flourishes. Rome now is a city of a million
teeming people. Greek cultural influence prospers and Epicurian philosophy is the rage.
Socially Roman women are far freer than their Greek counterparts and are often heard from in
politics and business. Aristocratic Roman tastes becomes increasingly literary and the most
distinctive Roman art of oratory becomes the favorite mode of Roman self-expression. A
Latin-speaking school of rhetoric is started in 95 BCE to help the aspiring statesmen learn
argument as well as style of delivery through gesture and diction. Cicero* stands out as the
ultimate orator of the period and his prose becomes the model for over a thousand years.
Literature really takes off as the darling of the aristocrats. Tragedy becomes more and more a
literary endeavor and new ones are no longer written for production. After Accius* (d. 84
BCE) tragedy is written to be declaimed at private parties and only older works are still
performed. The new literary form of satire* becomes more popular, again for recitation only.
PANTOMIME There is increasing use of a kind of theatrical performance called pantomime* which has been
around since the third century BCE It hasn't been very popular before, but now it is beginning
to be seen more often. Essentially it is a dramatic performance involving dancing and acting
stories. It is usually done with only one dancer although sometimes with several. The story is
sung by a chorus. The stories can be serious or comic (more often serious) and are mainly
drawn from tragedies and mythology. The dancer wore masks which were changed on stage
to portray each new character. For us, it sounds similar to modern interpretative dance, and is
a favorite primarily of the upper classes. It dates from 22 BCE as a significant theatrical form.
The Theatre Building
As part of the building boom the first permanent theatre in Rome is finally built. It is difficult
for us to understand the reluctance of the Romans to commit themselves to this construction.
They have no problem in funding huge amphitheaters and the Circus Maximus for chariot
racing and gladiator battles. But theatre seems to have been a different matter. Perhaps it is
the immorality of the mimes, which regularly appear as part of the tragedy productions, that
raise objections from the reactionary members of the senate. Whatever the reason, the
construction of a permanent theatre is permitted only by designating it a "temple", and
including a small obligatory temple shrine to some god. The first Roman theatre is built in
Pompeii in 75 BCE and now, in 55 BCE, one is finally started in Rome.
It is thanks to Pompey*, newly part of the First Triumvirate, that construction takes place. The
"temple" is discretely housed above the auditorium (cavea), apparently so that the goddess,
Venus Vicrix*, can see and appreciate the shows. The dedication in 52 BCE launched a
variety of shows. The enterprise is sufficiently successful to encourage the construction of
two other theatres in the city. In 13 BCE the theatre of Balbus* and in 11 BCE the theatre of
Marcellus* are built. The size of these theatres vary, with seating between 15,000 and 8,000.
The architecture of the Roman theatres differs significantly from the Greek and Hellenistic
models. Rather than trying to find a suitable hillside, Roman architects design a building
which can be, and usually is, constructed on level ground. The building is a complete
architectural whole which reduces the orchestra to a semi-circle. This also changes the
entrance-way used by Greek choruses (Parados) into a covered passage (vomitorium) which is
used by the audience as well as performers. The stage house (scaena) is the same height as the
rear wall of the auditorium. The stage has a decorated front (really the back wall) which
includes, at stage level, between five and seven doors. The stage (pulpitum) itself is about five
feet higher than the orchestra floor. These stages varies between 20 and 40 feet deep and 100
to more than 300 feet wide. The wings which enclose the ends of the stage also has doors.
Care is taken to protect the players and the stage is roofed. The audience is also protected
from the sun and rain by awnings. In some buildings water-cooled air is circulated through the
house, providing air-conditioning to combat the hot Italian weather. Sound engineering
provides that the stage house acts as an acoustical shell and various large vessels are included
in the back of the auditorium to resonate with a range of sounds and amplify them.
For the first time a curtain is provided to divide the stage from the house, allowing for
elaborate scenes to be revealed. Originally these curtains are lowered into a slot in the
orchestra floor, but later (after 100 CE) other means are devised. As time goes by at least 125
permanent theatres are built throughout the empire from Asia Minor through North Africa
into Europe. Greek theatres, already scattered through much of this territory, are remodeled.
We know a great deal about the Roman theatre building thanks to the survival of Vitruvius*'
work on Roman architecture (De Architectura 15 BCE).
The Roman Empire Begins

It's a little strange to suddenly refer to the "empire" since it has been sneaking in for some
time. However, we are now into that time, familiar from stage, film, TV, story and poetry. It
is 60 BCE, the time of the First Triumvirate, made up of Caesar*, Crassus* and Pompey*.
Each is a general, a leader of Roman legions in the three major divisions of the Roman
empire. When Crassus dies in a terrible Roman defeat in Parthia (over in Persia by the
Euphrates, now Iraq) a power struggle begins between the two remaining leaders.
For the first time there are major bloody battles involving one set of Roman Legions fighting
another. The political conflict comes to a head when Julius Caesar* brings his legions south
from Gaul and crosses the Rubicon, (the river marking the division between Cisalpine Gaul
and Italy). This is a real power play since nobody is supposed to bring their troops home to
Rome. He seizes the treasury in Rome and Pompey* runs off to his own power base in Spain
and North Africa. Caesar* follows, defeats Pompey*'s troops and Pompey* himself is killed
by the Egyptians, who figure this will please Caesar. It doesn't. Only Romans can kill other
Romans.
The Brief Course of Julius Caesar

This brings us to Caesar's* famous sojourn in Egypt. He finds Egypt a political mess. Now
Egypt is the granary for Rome and unrest in area, which provides the food supply, just won't
do. Caesar* puts Cleopatra on the throne (and dallies there long enough to father a child),
moves on to put down revolts in Syria and North Africa. He returns home in 45 BCE to Rome
and receives a series of triumphs. The ultimate victor, he is made dictator for a ten year term.
So much for the republic, the empire is here.
Julius Caesar* throws himself into government in a big way. There are land reforms, land for
veterans, reforms in commerce and complete reform of the calendar (we still use it today, with
slight modifications).
Well aware of the problems of changing leadership, he names his grand nephew, Octavius*
his heir. Taking time to zip off and put down another revolt, he returns for more honors and
triumphs. This time he is named dictator for life and given the rights of a king. Statues of him
are put up, coins with his image are struck and generally speaking he's king of the mountain.
The Republican Revolt

This move toward kingship really alarms the liberal, republican-minded bloc and sixty brave
souls get together to arrange the usual Roman solution: assassination. So here we are at the
Ides of March 44 BCE and the assassination gang led by Cassius* and Brutus* do the deed on
the senate steps. Caesar's* pet general, Marc Anthony* rallies Rome and with Octavius*
(Caesar's heir) they set up against the conspirators. Just so no one will forget the relationship,
Octavius* has his name changed to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus*. Two years after he dies,
Julius Caesar* is deified, so now he is a god.
Despite the impression given in fictionalized accounts, the pursuit of the assassins does not
take first place. Negotiating who gets the power comes first. The second triumvirate is set up
in 43 BCE with Lepidus*, Octavius* and Marc Anthony* dividing the empire between them.
They plan to assassinate the rich land owners in order to come up with the cash to fill the
empty treasury. Out in the boondocks of Asia Minor, the conspirators, Cassius and Brutus,
die, and with them the republican cause.
Things are by no means settled in the leadership scramble. Pompey* (the younger) seems to
think he should have a piece of the pie and takes Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. Eventually
Octavius* and Marc Anthony* rout and kill him. Poor Lepidus* has been forced into playing
second fiddle in the triumvirate. He tries to ramrod a revolt against Octavius* in Sicily but his
army betrays him and he gets mandatory retirement.
Since his uncle has been made a god, Octavius* is declared "son of a god" (divi filius) in 36
BCE Marc Anthony* gets sidetracked in the Egyptian portion of the empire. It is Cleopatra*,
of course. Octavius* declares war on him and at Actium* (31 BCE) Anthony* and the
Egyptian navy are defeated. The pair flee to Egypt and commit suicide. The power struggle is
over and Octavius* rates a three-day triumph in Rome.
The Golden Age Of Roman Culture

Finally we come to the Golden Age of Rome, the beginning of the Pax Romana which will
last almost two hundred years. It is a time of peace, good government, great Latin literature,
but no new theatre literature. It begins with Octavius* and immediately he starts reforms
while setting an example in his own life of a return to republican austerity. In 27 BCE he is
given the title of Augustus* (worshipful) and the post of tribune for life. You will notice that
everybody is still pretending that the power comes from the senate. They will keep up this
charade throughout the course of the empire.
Basically there are three areas of activity which are of interest to us in this period: first, the
society changes with peace and good government; second, the entertainment side of theatre
takes off and there are scenic developments galore; third, Roman culture, including theatre
buildings, activities and literature, spread over the whole empire. Let's consider society first.
Social Changes Begin Under Augustus
Augustus institutes a series of reform legislation to restore republican virtues and improve
morals. These do not repress the extravagant tastes and behavior of the wealthy senators, but
they do set a tone for public attitudes and governmental treatment of citizens and slaves alike.
The old paterfamilias* control of women is long gone and women are much more seen and
heard from in politics and business. Augustus' wife, Livia, is credited with much of his stable
progress in good government.
The Glory of Roman Literature
Poets, historians, orators, satirists, epigrammatists and biographers flourish under the sway of
peace and order. The most renowned works of Roman writers are clustered in this early part
of the Pax Romana*. Cicero*, statesman as well as author, opens the era, followed fast by
Vergil* with his Aeneid and Ovid*'s poetry. Livy*'s History of Rome and the biographies of
Plutarch* offer much of the information we have, concerning the theatre of Roman times.
In the second century of the Roman Peace we find two other theatrically useful writers.
Viturvius' work on architecture, as we have mentioned, tells in great detail how the theatres
are built. Even later, Julius Pollux writes on the physical aspects of the Greek theatre,
including a catalog of comic and tragic masks. In particular, Horace* writes his work on
dramatic theory and criticism. This work will influence playwrights for the next seventeen
centuries. We will look at the last important theatrical writer a little later in his proper context.
Horace - Ars Poetica

Quintus Horatius* Flaccus is born in 65 BCE and dies 8 BCE A Roman lyric
and satiric poet and author of Odes, Epodes, Satires, Epistles and, especially,
Ars Poetica* - the only extant complete treatise on dramatic criticism and
theory. [There are two other authors, Varro and Lucilius, whose works might
eclipse that of Horace, if they had survived.]
Generally speaking there is little in this work beyond the purely formal dictates
for writers. The main emphasis is put on:
a play must have five acts
the chorus must function as a character
the work must have "proportion"
the author must use "good sense" in choice of subject, character and dialog
great "decorum" must be used in what is shown and what is said
The specific details of what constitutes "decorum" includes:
Actions that would not seem credible when shown on stage, such as killings
and transformations, should occur off stage and be reported. The deus ex
machina, or solution of the action by the intervention of a god should be
avoided, except when clearly logical. Unbelievable or impossible things should
be avoided. the piece should promote "pleasure and profit" by joining the
instructive and the agreeable. There should be no fourth speaking part in any
scene, except a minor functionary.
It is preferable to take the plot from traditional stories. The invention of new
stories is regarded as unlikely to succeed. Specifically a writer should look to
Greek models.
Beyond these formal attributes it is significant that Horace (unlike the Greeks)
insists that dramatic poems should be tender and affecting and tragedy should
not attempt to provide an amusing or captivating show.
Society
Back in the arena of societal affairs, a formidable bureaucracy is established to run the
increasingly complex business of the empire. Posts are filled by competent people who must
pass tests for their abilities. For the first time merit, rather than political connections, is
considered. The city is rebuilt and we can see the emergence of an efficient, healthy and
socially productive urban environment that will not be equaled (or even approached) for
another two thousand years.
City planning becomes a reality and as the Romans build throughout the empire, the pattern
established in Rome will be exported from England to North Africa, and from Asia Minor to
Spain. There are miles of aqueducts bringing fresh water, public (as well as private) latrines,
sewer systems, central heating and water-cooled air conditioning, police and fire brigades, and
strict traffic laws. Public apartment blocks where the ill-paid working class live (insula) fill
the byways of the city. The discovery of concrete enables the Romans to expand their use of
the Etruscan arch, the vault, and to achieve new uses for the dome, as they erect extensive
public buildings: forums, amphitheaters, temples by the dozens, harbors, bridges and ever
increasing roads. Many of the roads and bridges are still in use today. Architects and
engineers have come into their own.
The Public Baths The public building most typical of Roman society may well be the public baths. These
fascinating places have been around for a long time as the primary place in which to spend
leisure time, cut a political or economic deal, and generally enjoy the good life. They have not
been accessible to everyone, but Augustus's son-in-law Agrippa builds the first of the free
baths and soon there are hundreds all over the empire. Even remote towns and villages on the
borders of the empire will have their baths.
An ancient Roman would recognize the descendents of these baths in our large hotels,
Holiday Inns and cruise ships. Baths are monuments to the notion that many forms of leisure
can be put together under a single roof. Later in the empire some of the baths will occupy as
much as thirty-three acres. They become the center of Roman social life. They house, of
course, the baths. There you can get a rubdown with oil, a hot bath, a steam room, a tepid bath
and a cold one. But the bathing part is only the beginning.
There are gardens, courtyards, and promenades for quiet relaxation and leisurely discussion.
For the intellectual there are art galleries, libraries, museums, lecture halls (even theatrical
literature recited), reading rooms and debating halls. Swimming pools, wrestling rooms,
gymnasiums and massage rooms beckon to the active visitor. Resting rooms, gambling rooms
and even lodging for the overnight guest, are available. In some there are a cluster of rooms
set discretely apart for prostitutes. All these, as well as shops and restaurants cater to the rich
and poor alike.
The public bath is much more than a sign and symbol of Roman affluence. It gives a sense of
democracy to free men and citizens of all degrees. Here they mingle and share the good life.
A feeling of belonging to the same great Roman community (communitas) holds the empire
together.
Roman Roads
In the next two centuries a major Roman highway system will run from the edge of Scotland
to the Red Sea, from the Atlantic coast of Portugal to the Tigris and the Euphrates, from the
Rhone river to Armenia. A masterpiece of engineering, these roads are constantly maintained.
There are posthouses every ten miles and lodging, with food and entertainment, every thirty
miles.
Julius Caesar* once traveled eight hundred miles in eight days over these roads. The empire's
postriders can move twice that fast. Their speed and efficiency will not be matched until the
advent of railroads. Communication and commerce flourish by means of the road system and
the harbors.
Religion
There has always been a position in Roman government called Pontifex maximus*. This is the
person assigned to be head of the state religion. Under the Republic there is a special
residence for the holder of this office. The Pontifex has a collection of pontiffs* (priests)
under his control. There is a college of pontiffs who preserves the sacred books, superintends
all the public religious ceremonies and draws up the calendar of festivities.
These pontiffs* establish all the rituals that the Romans are so fond of. The temple on the
Capitoline* (one of the hills) is the focus of the State religion. There they examine the
augurs* (the guys who look for and interpret signs they find in various places), have their
priestly colleges and pronounce their verdicts. The number of pontiffs and of augurs vary
from period to period and the number of colleges increase as time goes by. The first college
has guardianship of the divine law and the calendar. The second deals with the reading of
omens. The priests have a good deal of power in the state.
In 12 BCE Augustus* becomes Pontifex maximus*. When he builds a new temple to his
favorite, Apollo, on the Palatine (another of the hills) he moves all the sacred books to a vault
there. This religious post has been of little interest for us up to now but as we move into the
Christian era it will have interesting complications.
Roman Leaders During The Empire

c.27 BCE - CE 180
REIGNS CE LEADER
EVENTS
27BCE-14
Golden Age in Arts, empire extended

to Danube. PAX ROMANA
Augustus
c.4 BCE
14-47
birth of Christ
Tiberius
c.29
crucifixion of Christ
37-41
Caligula
41-54
Claudius
43 conquest of Britain
54-68
Nero
fire in Rome
69-79
Vespasian
70
Jerusalem captured by Titus
79-81
79 destruction of Pompeii
81-96
Titus
Domitian
96-98
Nerva
98-117
Trajan
Hadrian
Antoninus
pushes imperial boundaries to Persian

117
Gulf and Caspian Sea largest extent of Empire
117-138
abandons east of Euphrates
131
codification of laws
131-35
revolt in Judaea
138-161
161-180
Pius
Marcus
Aurelius
165 plague depopulates Rome 166

beginning of defensive wars
It's Variety Time In The Theatre

In 17 BCE magnificent secular games are held to celebrate the first ten years of Augustus*'
rule. The celebration runs for three days and three nights. The range of theatrical events run
the gamut from short, simple farces, through increasingly popular mimes, tragedies,
increasingly elaborate pantomimes, to the newer forms involving showy battles. The
popularity of theatrical battles increase as the occurrence of real battles decrease.
Sea Battles
Chariot races, gladiatorial battles and animal fights are being challenged by the most
spectacular battle entertainment, the sea fight. In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar* gave the first one on
record. For that event a special lake was dug and over six thousand oarsmen and marines were
involved. As the empire progresses these shows become more elaborate and condemned
criminals and slaves are actively killed as part of the battle. Amphitheaters are occasionally
flooded for such events but the biggest show take place on a lake, celebrating the completion
of a water conduit. In 56 BCE, there are nineteen thousand participants. Keep in mind that
these sea battles include ships, of course, but the spectacle doesn't stop there. There are
elaborate costumes for the participants, many costumed guards and managers can be seen
driving the fighters on, at sword point and with hot irons, to spill their blood for
entertainment.
Costumes and Props
Gladiator battles and animal fights become more theatrical. Participants are costumed and
even the weapons are selected for visual effect as well as their more deadly attributes.
Participants are selected for their visual appeal as well as their fighting skill. Dwarfs and
women are included along with diverse ethnic types. Mock hunts are dramatized for human
versus animal battles and for the reverse, animals hunting down people.
Pantomimes as well as other forms of entertainment make use of people as scenery. Coated
with gold or used as human torches, slaves and criminals die for decoration. Despite attempts
at moral reform the mimes are becoming more obscene, including all varieties of sexual acts
as part of the public entertainment. Plays boast a multitude of animals (six hundred mules in a
train, for example) and thousands of objects (props) to fill and decorate the stage. Elaborate
displays are the order of the day and each show must outdo the one before.
Bread and Circuses
The time of "bread and circuses"* is here. Entertainment of the crowd is regarded as the right
of the Roman populace. "Circuses" includes all forms of entertainment offered in theatres and
amphitheaters as well as the Circus Maximus (designed primarily for chariot races). Shows in
these public buildings often run continuously all day. The "bread" part comes with
competition among theatre producers. In order to keep the crowds in one particular building,
the management will often throw bread, cakes and other edible goodies to the crowd between
the shows (we will call it intermission), ensuring that the audience will not wander down the
street to another show.
[NOTE- We are now moving from dates BCE to CE and for convenience all
dates that are CE will be written without that designation. Only dates referring
back to BCE will have a designation.]
The Roman Peace 27 BCE - CE 180

Roman Writers And Their Works During The Early Empire
Pomponius, Secundus* (wrote in first century CE) a few fragments survive. Regarded as the
most important Roman writer of Tragedy in his day, he was in disgrace under Tiberius but
prominent under Caligula and Claudius.
Seneca* c.4 BCE - CE 65 - philosopher and dramatist
Petronius* c. CE20 - CE66 - satirist
Quintilian*, Marcus Fabius from CE 63 he taught oratory in Rome, from Spain. Author of 12
books on principles of rhetoric, whole education of a Roman and methods used in best
schools.
Lucian, (2nd century) of Samosata (in Syria) - satarist
Martial* c. CE40 - CE 104 - epigrammatist
Plutarch* CE46 - c.CE 120 - biographer
Tacitus* c. CE55 - c. CE118 - historian
Juvenal* c. CE60 - c. CE140 - satirist
Pliny the Younger* c. CE62 - c. CE113 - writer and administrator
Marcus Aurelius* 121 CE - 180 CE emperor and author of Meditations

Vitruvius* (dates and full name uncertain) Author of the extant work On Architecture which
includes much information on Roman theatre building.
Scenery
Vitruvius* tells of a variety of ways in which the stage is decorated for different theatrical
events. Machinery for elaborate displays improve and cranes, wagons, curtains and even
pyrotechnic effects are employed. The old three-sided Greek periaktoi* are elaborately
painted and rotate to show a change in place. The front of the upstage area (scaenae frons*) is
elaborately decorated to define the kind of building involved in the plays. These may be royal
palaces (for tragedies) or private homes, complete with windows and balconies (for
comedies). Mimes and satyric pieces require trees, caverns, mountains and all sorts of rustic
locations.
The Silver Age of Latin Literature
The Last Playwright - After Augustus* dies there are some real ups and downs in the
government business. Tiberius* doesn't do too badly (although he is in power during the
crucifixion of Christ*, which doesn't have much impact at that time) but Caligula* is a real
crazy, the first ruler to declare himself a god (remember that Augustus* was only the son of a
god). Claudius* manages to get the ship of state back on an even keel (despite a terrible
stammer) but Nero* starts rocking it again.
Even though it makes a terrific image, Nero* does not fiddle while Rome burns. He isn't even
in town when it happens. But in 64 Rome does burn and the new Christian* sect makes a
good scapegoat. In the same year Nero*, who has a passion for performing, makes his public
debut, singing in Naples. One of the few good things associated with Nero* is his tutor and
pet writer Seneca* . Nero* may be just another in a long line of moral degenerates but
Seneca* has strong Stoic* ethics and a talent for communicating. As part of Nero*'s purge of
a conspiracy against him, he orders Seneca to commit suicide. As a good Roman Stoic, he
does (not unlike the earlier Greek, Socrates*).
Having said at the outset of this period that there is no new theatre literature, Seneca* needs a
little more explanation. By the time he begins writing tragedies it is no longer the fashion to
write these for performance. Theatre has become an entertainment mill and anyone with
pretensions to creating literature has to take into account the market they are writing for.
Seneca* writes for the intellectual and political elite. Consequently his works are intended to
be recited at dinner parties and in the intellectual halls of the public baths.
Stoic Philosophy in Seneca Later generations will not be aware of the nonperformance nature of Seneca's plays. Nine of
his tragedies survive to become the primary models for Renaissance writers. So it is strictly as
a writer, rather than as a practicing playwright, that Seneca* closes out the range of classic
theatre. Most of what he writes are philosophical treatises about Stoic* morality. His plays are
often considered as instructive of the Stoic values. The theory goes that Seneca writes these to
try to teach Nero how to behave. If he does, it doesn't work.
Seneca
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus - c. 4 BCE - CE 65 - author of the only extant Roman tragedies. His
political life is as prominent as his literary career. He writes extensively in a variety of forms.
His father was a rhetorician. Seneca becomes fascinated by Stoic philosophy and sticks to it
throughout his life. He needs it because he lives through one of the stickiest times in the
Roman Empire. He is called to be the tutor of Nero* and is probably responsible for the "new
Golden Age" of Nero's early rule. After much grief with Nero he retires to his estates but Nero
sends word that he should end his life and so he does, in true Stoic fashion. His plays are rich
with rhetoric and sensationalism and illustrate Stoicism. Verbal brilliance and theatrical
power enable his work to becomw a model of tragedy for the Renaissance. His works also
include philosophical prose, dialogues, letters, treatises and scientific discussions.
PLAYS:
Agamemnon, Hercules, Furens, Hercules on Oeta, Medea, Oedipus, Phaedra, The
Phoenician Women, Thyestes, The Trojan Women
Central to each of his plays is a grand and consuming passion. The Stoic lesson which is clear
in these plays concerns the terrible effects of yielding to a particular passion (lust, ambition,
vengeance). The Stoic* goal (interestingly similar to Buddhism) is to banish passions and
achieve apatheia (a release from emotion or excitement). Additional Stoic* teachings can be
found: the notion that a King is not the master but the servant of his people; life should be
lived according to nature; and, finally, the doctrine of how unimportant things like wealth,
health and attachment to the family are. Later, the English Renaissance and French Neoclassic
playwrights will really take to this passion stuff.
Seneca* models his plays mainly on those of Euripides. He assumes his audience knows the
Greek originals and will have them in mind when they hear his version. This means that he
doesn't bother explaining the situation at the opening of a play. Instead, he sets up an
emotional atmosphere. His choruses are obviously not designed for singing and dancing, just
speaking, and it is in the area of speaking that Seneca* really shines.
Remember that rhetoric business that the Romans are so crazy about? Well, Seneca* is the
all-time master of rhetoric. Rhetoric is to speaking, what opera is to music. The elegant,
elaborate, gemlike paradoxes and sentiments can be seen in the back and forth, line-for-line
exchanges of dialogue in Seneca's plays. Rhetoric makes the monstrous inhumanity of the
characters bearable. Without rhetoric the descriptions of butchery and ghoulishness would be
sickening, repulsive, or even funny.
Aristotle* said that tragedy should show men like us or greater than we are. Seneca has no
interest in doing that. Instead, he shows us the terrific voltage of which humanity is capable.
Seneca*'s characters are only demonstrations of the potentialities of human passion. In the
Phaedra* story, for example, the original Greek model has the nurse goad Phaedra on to
extremes. Seneca*, on the other hand, gives us a woman who comes from a long line of
passionate women. She seems to say to us, "if you want to see real passion, watch me."
Seneca*s treatment of Medea* is not concerned with injustices imposed on women or
foreigners. It concerns only Medea's passion for revenge against Jason*. The Greek concern
with examining relations between gods and man, or man and man are of no interest to
Seneca*. This extreme of character passion will prove fascinating and useful for later
generations of playwrights.
The Spread Of Roman Culture
Rulers continue to rule with greater or lesser success but the efficient bureaucracy enables the
empire to run fairly smoothly. There are minor uprisings. The Jews create an annoyance and
in 70 the Romans sack and raze Jerusalem. By and large the only fighting is on the frontiers.
There are occasional disruptions of nature. Vesuvius erupts in 79 burying the city of Pompeii*
and two other towns, providing later generations with enormous archeological finds.*
All over the empire large numbers of non-Latin peoples are becoming Romans. One language,
one culture emanating from Rome, one currency, one giant trading network, all transform
diverse cultures and heritages into a sprawling Roman society. Roman citizenship is awarded
for a variety of services to Rome and the full protection of Roman law is being extended to
more and more people.
The army is recruited from all over the empire. Soldiers serve in all the different provinces
and are rotated with some regularity. This helps spread knowledge of different cultures from
one place to another. Soldiers rise by merit and veterans serve as reservists. The only
exception to this general rotation is the Praetorian* Guard who are stationed in Rome. They
will become more powerful as time passes.
By 100, one third of Rome's population are slaves. The number of freed men begin to
outnumber the free born, and those who rise economically form a special group. Rome
becomes a melting pot. By the end of the century there are Greaco-Roman merchants in
China*. All over the empire provincial laws are operative so long as they don't conflict with
Roman law. But, the lack of a common faith and a common purpose makes the population
restless and there is an influx and spread of oriental religions. Many of the Roman Legion
headquarters had temples of Mithra*.
The empire grows to its largest extent under Trajan*. What is of real interest to us is that
Trajan* restricts the monies spent on gladiator shows and revives the theatre. His successor is
Hadrian* who builds the famous wall across the narrowest part of England to hold back the
barbarian celts and picts to the north. His other accomplishment of note is his revision and
codification of Roman law. One of Hadrian's less appealing acts is his devastation of Judea, to
put down one of the perennial revolts. After one more ruler of little concern we end this
period with Marcus Aurelius* a leader of considerable accomplishment. He, like Seneca*, is a
Stoic. A philosopher and writer, we can learn much of his civilization from his Meditations*.
*
The End of an Era

Under the Roman peace* the Romans become civilizers of Europe and Britain. They have
little civilizing effect on their acquisitions in the east where older civilizations are simply
incorporated into the empire. Alexandria,* for example, is the second greatest city in the
empire. The Romans learn from the Greeks and other eastern cultures, spreading their
assimilated knowledge and ways of doing things from Scotland to the Sahara, from Portugal
to the borders of Persia. By the end of Marcus Aurelius*' reign, the empire begins to decline
and all the different provinces will have to build on what they have learned. By 180 BCE,
there is a great movement of Northern European (Goths) and Asiatic peoples toward the
borders of the empire. German and Samaritan barbarians break through along the Danube and
sweep into Italy around the head of the Adriatic Sea.*
The Military Empire
CE 180 - 284
The slow and painful decline of the Roman empire need not be covered here in much detail
but there are a few personages and events that may contribute to a better understanding of
how society and theatre will change and survive.
These hundred years, from the death of Marcus Aurelius* in 180 to the next intelligent leader
in 284, is a time of adventurers and usurpers. Civil war breaks out from time to time, robber
bands roam the countryside, trade stagnates and a police state is established. Goths, Franks
and Persians overrun frontiers and there is a vast increase in the power of the military which
leads to total militarization of the state. The reign of Septimus Servius * (193-211) wipes out
the Praetorian Guard* (the former power to make and break rulers) and power moves to the
mass army. He imposes ruinous taxes to support the military and starts serious inflation.
ROMAN LEADERS DURING THE MILITARY EMPIRE
Beginning of Barbarian Invasions
CE 180 - 284
REIGNS
CE
LEADER
180-192
Commodus
193-211
Septimius Severus
211-218
Caracalla
218-222
Elagabalus
222-235
Alexander Severus
235-270
Maximinus, Gordian
Decius*,
Gallus*,
Gallienus*, Claudius II*
270-275
Aurelian
276-282
Probus
EVENTS
In 212 citizenship granted to all free

inhabitants of empire
III,
Philip*, c.250-265 plague rages throughout

Valerian*, empire c.250-305 general persecution of
Christians
pacification of Gaul
ROMAN WRITERS IN AGE OF MILITARY EMPERORS

AND BARBARIAN INVASIONS 180 - 284 CE
Tertullian* c. CE 160 - c. 230 - Christian apologist
Julius Pollux* writes c. CE 180-190, a 10 book Greek dictionary, an encyclopedia containing

a chapter on physical aspects of Greek theatre including a catalog of comic and tragic masks.
It is called Onomastikon
Eusebius of Caesarea* CE 260 - c. 340 - Christian historian
Golden Age of Africa

Since the time of Cleopatra,* the Romans have been improving the granary of Egypt.
Spreading techniques of water conservation and building miles of irrigation systems, they
bring civilization as well as agriculture to the desert. With things going from bad to worse on
the european continent, Africa and its primary city, Alexandria* benefit from having the
Mediterranean between them and the mess back in Europe. Culture, trade and agriculture
flourish. The great library* and schools attract scholars from all over the empire. Theatre
benefits from all the learning going around when Julius Pollux (writing between 180-190)
puts together a terrific Greek encyclopedia. He provides much of the information we have
today on the physical aspects of the Greek theatre.
Strange Gods And Cults From Afar

These are exotic and complex religions which can not be assimilated into the Roman
pantheon. They tend to address matters of life and death in terms of the individual and not the
state. They are kept apart and efforts are often made to ban them, but the more they are
attacked, the more they flourish.
They pave the way for Christianity. Ten years after the Crucifixion there are Christians in
Rome. Christianity will become colored by a number of Roman religious practices.
Egypt - contributes Isis* who promises immortality and celebrates the individual.
Osiris* sun god who is torn apart and revived by Isis
Horus* - son of Osiris, or of Serapis
Serapis* - Bull
Persia - contributes Mithra* - a favorite cult of Romans, promises life after death. [Mithraic*
temples have been found in all regions of the Roman empire, recently in the heart of London.]
Mazda* - sun god - god of light
India - Buddhism - which seems very similar to the Stoic* philosohic view.
The Christians Begin To Emerge

It is time to take a look at that growing group of members of Roman society who come under
the heading of Christians. After the Crucifixion, a group called Nazarenes* (followers of
Christ) begin to spread their doctrine in Judea and Syria. It isn't until Saul* of Tarsus, a
Roman citizen who speaks Greek, takes up the doctrine and becomes Paul*. He may have
been influenced by Mithraism, but he builds a theological system of belief and develops a
creed. He is a persuasive and articulate advocate for his views. When he dies (under the reign
of Nero*), he leaves an active belief that strikes at the political essentials of the imperial
system.
The first two centuries of Christianity are very obscure. There are no settled creeds and wide
local variations [some of which survive to this day]. During these centuries there seem to be a
lot of exchanges of ideas, especially into Christianity from the popular and wide spread
Mithraic* Cult and the cult of Serapis-Isis-Horus*. Mithraic worship contributes the notion of
Sun-day as the day of worship (rather than the Jewish Sabbath); the "blood" imagery,
especially "washed in the blood" from its mysteries in which the Mithraist actually bathed in
the blood of a sacrificial bull to be "born again".
The Alexandrine cult of Serapis-Isis-Horus* contributes even more to the still fluid Christian
belief: the personality of Horus* (at once the son of the god Serapis, and identical with him);
the identification of Mary* with Isis and her elevation to quasi-divine. The practical methods
of popular religions of this time provide head-shaving for priests and characteristic garments
of the Egyptian priests. With all these additions and variations, the history of Christianity in
the fourth and fifth centuries is largely a record of disputing views on the nature of
Christianity. We will return to the Christians as their activities seen relevant to the progress of
society and of the theatre.
Excesses of Rome
The tax problem leads Caracalla* (211-218) to grant Roman citizenship to all free persons in
the empire. This clever device makes them liable to taxes. He is followed by a ruler who
makes Nero and Caligula look like good citizens. Elagabalus* is more excessive, extravagant
and debauched than any Roman ruler. He is a hereditary priest of Baal* and since, as ruler, he
is also Pontifex maximus* (head of the state religion, remember?), he can impose this really
non-Roman religion on the state. From here on out, things go from bad to worse.
It is a time of rapid turnover of emperors. Local loyalties grow stronger as the central
government grows weaker. Provincial leaders come from the provinces as do their armies.
The frontiers of the empire begin to cave in. The Goths, who have moved south from Sweden
into the Russian plains, establish a strong state. The Alamanni (eastern Germans), Vandals (a
Germanic tribe) and Franks (Germanic freemen) all break through the Roman borders along
the Rhine. They proceed to move across Gaul, over the Pyrenees into Spain and head for
North Africa. In the east the Goths (Russian types) sail across the Black Sea and attack the
Roman outposts on the southern shore. The Persians, who have also been gaining strength,
make inroads on the borders further south.
Meanwhile back in Rome, the emperors continue to make whoopee. By the time of Philip*
(an interesting guy, an arab chieftain with a Christian wife), public entertainment is at its
height. He throws a huge celebration in 248 to celebrate the 1000 years* since the traditional
founding date of Rome, despite the fact that almost constant civil wars are going on.
Things now begin to go from worse to just plain awful. Decius* organizes the first official
persecution of Christians* which just happens to coincide with a really bad outbreak of the
plague. The plague rages for fifteen years throughout the empire (250-265) but the
persecution of Christians continues through 305. The civil wars continue. The governor of the
province of Gaul sets up his own empire (284) and rules Gaul, Spain and England for ten
years. Other break-aways include Syria, most of Asia Minor and Egypt. Religious persecution
continues because Christian* conversions are spreading the practice of refusing state religious
rites, and this threatens Roman law and order.
In an effort to stop this imperial slide into chaos, Valerian* divides the rule of the empire and
puts his son in control of the western portion. He also continues Christian* persecutions. After
he is captured by Persians, his son Gallienus* takes control of the whole empire again, ends
the persecutions and puts out an edict of toleration. His hope is that Rome can use Christianity
to consolidate the empire.
Persia, Zorasterism and Manicheism
The Persian empire has been getting stronger and better organized as the Roman one is
crumbling. Taking a cue from the Romans, the Persians attempt to use Zorasterism* to
consolidate their realm. Both religions have some competition from the new Manicheism*,
founded by Mani*, a Mesopotanian prophet. Combining Zoroastrian and Christian elements,
it rapidly becomes an international religion from the Atlantic to China. *
The End of the Beginning of the End

The last part of this period shows some signs of bringing a little order out of chaos. There are
further revolts on the frontiers but Claudius II* stems the Goths in Serbia. Unfortunately, he
proceeds to die of the plague. His successor, Aurelian* begins withdrawal of Roman legions
along the Rhine, but manages to retake Gaul, Syria, Egypt and Asia Minor. He leaves the last
ruler a brief period of peace.
The Late Period To The Fall Of The Empire

The last segment of the Roman empire is punctuated by a few brilliant leaders and a
significant reorganization of society. It begins with Diocletian* coming to the helm in 284. He
is a take-charge type and begins drastic reforms immediately by firmly dividing the
unmanageable empire into East and West. He appoints a co-emperor (Maximian*) in the west
and moves his Eastern capital to Nicomedia. Diocletian* reorganizes everything, gives
Maximian equal power, adds two deputy co-emperors and successors (called Caesars) to
handle the military. He puts down revolts and defeats the Persians. He attacks the Christians
in what is now known as the "Great Persecution" and issues a rapid series of edicts to root out
the offending religion. All copies of Christian scriptures and churches are destroyed, all
meetings of Christians are forbidden and they are deprived of all rights. Having tidied things
up he retires.
His successor Galerius* continues the persecutions in the East. In the West, Constantius
Chlorus* (father of Constantine* the Great) does not, and, when he dies in 306, the succession
in the West is up for grabs. The legions in the West proclaim young Constantine* emperor.
That's not legal, but, in light of the military pressure, Galerius* does name him Caesar in the
West. However there are two other guys fighting for the top job. Eventually there are six
augusti claiming the title. Finally the group thins out and it's time to try something.*
The Empire Becomes Permanently Divided
When Theodosius* dies in 395 the Empire is again divided between two emperors, neither of
which is up to coping. The barbarian horde of Huns, under Alaric* (the all powerful), move
south and west, into Thessaly, down the coast of Greece, through Athens* and down the
Peloponneus.*. Arcadius*, the Eastern emperor, tries to buy him off, which is a mildly
successful solution. In 400 Alaric* attacks Rome. Honorius*, emperor in the west, buys him
off and they make a truce. Unfortunately one of the Roman legions breaks the truce in 410
and Alaric* moves into Rome, sacks it and sweeps it clean. Fortunately for Italy, Alaric*
dies.*
Constantine* And The Empire Is Reunited

In 312 he makes his move. By this time the Cult of Mithras* is the religion of choice of
soldiers. But Constantine* figures he needs the best help available to win the throne. He
claims to have seen a vision in the form of a cross in the sky and heard a command that he go
into battle under that sign. He does, he wins, and his victory is now coupled with Christianity
in the eyes of the West. The Eastern ruler, Licinius*, goes along with this Christian tolerance
for a while but then resumes persecuting them. Constantine* throws him out and reunites the
empire in 324. Constantine* is incredibly active in his efforts to establish and maintain peace
and order. He sets a stamp on many areas of society that will last for millennia.
Religion The interesting thing is that Constantine* is interested in power, not religion and does not
impose any religion on the empire. He is tolerant of all and encourages pagan festivals. He's
especially fond of Apollo* and Mithra*. But he is insistent that religious conduct and rituals,
of whatever religion, be conducted with clear lines of command and be clearly defined. He
plays umpire when there are disputes because he believes the emperor has both the right and
the duty to lay down laws, even laws of religion. In 324 he calls the first ecumenical council
of the Christian church and instructs the bickering Christian groups to get their act together.
As a nominal Christian, Constantine* can't claim divinity, but he can surround himself with a
divine aura. Christianity does permit him to claim to be "ordained by God to oversee whatever
is external to the Church". This notion sets a precedent that will cause terrific power struggles
between future popes and emperors down through the ages. At the same time Constantine*
sets up the papacy's claim to temporal power by giving the rights and duties of magistrates to
all the Christian bishops in the empire.
Social Laws Constantine* seems to be exceptionally humane. He issues a number of edicts providing:
slaves have the right to attain freedom, masters can't abuse slaves, slave families must be kept
together, peasants are protected when they fall into debt, children are not to be abused,
prisoners in jails are not to be harshly treated, branding on the face is abolished, crucifixion
and gladiatorial displays are condemned, children are not to be abandoned.
Administration Imperial control over the lives of the people is tightened through taxation. One of the more
significant edicts of Constantine* binds people to their work. This means that almost no
worker or peasant can work at something different than his father did. This is the beginning of
serfdom which will come to replace slavery as a way of ensuring cheap labor with total
control by the land owner. So much for social mobility.
Changing Center of Power One of the most significant acts Constantine undertakes is the establishment of a new capital.
It is obvious that the real leverage of power is over there in the East and not in Rome. The
crossroads of commerce between Asia and the West is apparently in an old Greek fishing port
of Byzantium. In 330, surrounded by all the high ecclesiastical officials, New Rome is
formally founded with all the pagan ceremonies attributed to Romulus*'s founding of the
original Rome*. The new capital drains the old one of soldiers, nobility and craftsmen.
Despite the original name of New Rome, the capital immediately becomes Constantinople*.
The city is largely populated by Romans, the language and laws are Roman, but soon it takes
on all the culture of the Greeks as well.
The Christian Conflict The doctrine of the Trinity is formulated, but not all the various Christian groups agree on it.
Almost every aspect of doctrine, creed, belief, not to mention all the rites and rituals, are
bones of contentions among the various factions and sects that made up the far flung Christian
churches. This confusion and arguing will continue to be the primary feature of Christianity
for years.
The United Roman Empire Has Problems

After Constantine's* death in 337 there are a series of ineffectual emperors who manage to
hold things together. These are punctuated by occasional relevant rulers. Julian* (361), known
later as the Apostate, tries to establish a pagan church. There is apparently enough pagan
support around to enable him to make a brave try, but non-Christian religions are having a
harder time bucking the growing authority wielded by the church.
Age of Major Barbarian Invasions Begins Around 375 the barbarians start moving again from the east and set up a domino effect. Huns
move west from central Asia and push against all the tribes in their path and by 378 they are
marching against the Imperial army. The besieged Goths (Rumania, Hungary and southern
Russia) press against their Roman borders. The Visigoths in Transylvania (they are Teutonic
and Christian) push on their border.
The Roman leadership drifts on through more emperors until we get to Theodosius* (379)
when the Church really gets militant. He helps to stamp a distinctly authoritative character on
Catholic Christianity. He makes heresy a crime (which settles the Trinity business) and
paganism becomes a crime. The remarkable religious tolerance of Greece and Rome is gone
forever. From here on out we have the church militant. There is Christian vandalism of the
temples of Jews and Samaritans (which have been protected by Roman law until now). As we
move into the fifth century the building of new synagogues is forbidden and Jews and
Samaritans are expelled from public service.
Theatre Is Still With Us -
The theatrically interesting thing about Theodosius* is his wife Theodora*. She is an actress,
apparently in mime. The church is vehemently anti-theatre, an attitude which seems to stem
from the early days of Christianity when theatre was used to make fun of the new sect.
Christians really resent being made fun of and try to kill the messenger. Theatre, in various
forms, carries on despite the persecution.
Roman Leaders During The Late Period

Imperial Divisions and Fall of Western Empire CE 284 - 476
284-305 Diocletian* In 286 he divides empire and makes Maximian* ruler in the West (he'll
rule there 286-305). In 293 Diocletian establishes a tetarchy with two augusti and two caesars
(one East and one West).
306-337 Constantine* 312 defeats Maximian
313 edict of Milan* proclaims toleration of Christianity
324 Constantine becomes sole ruler of reunited empire
325 Council of Nicaea*
330 founding of new Rome (Constantinople)
REIGNS
LEADER
337-350
Constans*
337-361
Constantius II*
361-363
Julian*
363-364
Jovian*
364-378
Valentinian*
364-378
Valens*
375-383
Gratian*
375-392
Valentinian II*
379-395
Theodosius
(in WEST) 4074-9
EVENTS
378 Visigoths kill Valens at battle of Andrianople
empire redivided at death of Theodosius

Franks* invade Gaul; Vandals move into Spain
395-423
Honorius*
425-455
Valentinian III*
410 sack of Rome by Visigoths* under Alaric
429
Vandals* overrun Africa
452
Attila's Huns* turn away from Rome on intercession of

Pope Leo I
455
Vandals sack Rome
455-476
(Puppet Emperors)
476
Romulus
Augustulus
last of the Emperors in the West is deposed
Two Reactions To Disaster

When the Carthaginians, over in Africa, hear about the sack of Rome in 410 they realize that
the whole huge, complex system of civilization as they know it, is about to come to a sudden
and really dark end. There are two men in the rich and prosperous city of Carthage* who have
very different reactions to the imminent demise of the world as they know it. The important
thing about these reactions is the mind set they will give to the western world for the next
thousand years. If we don't understand their ideas, we will never be able to make sense of
western civilization's Dark and Middle Ages.
St Augustine
Reaction One: There is a fascinating fellow in Carthage* named Aurelius Augustinus* (354430) (later to be St. Augustine*). He leads a riotous youth, carousing and enjoying the theatre.
A practicing Manichaean* (see above), he has a spiritual crisis and turns Christian in 387. He
goes back to the rich city of Carthage and rapidly rises to become bishop in 395. What makes
this particular fellow so fascinating is the influence he has on the next thousand years or so.
He is apparently a terrific speaker and an indefatigable writer. His influence throughout the
Christian world is second only to St. Paul*'s. In his major works, The City of God* and
Confessions*, he champions orthodoxy against his former belief and other heresies.
Augustine's* reaction to impending doom is rather like that of the turtle. Pull in your head and
tough it out. In this case the turtle shell in question is a current craze in Christian thinking
derived from that old pagan, Plato*. The new Platonists (Neoplatonists) find Plato's* ideas
really soothing for people persecuted by the state and liable to suffering.
Plato was very picky about distinguishing appearance from reality and opinion from
knowledge. For him the real world around him was only a shadow of reality and only the
product of opinion. Real knowledge could only be found in the pure, unadulterated ideas you
had in your mind of all the things you observed. The real world was only a series of shadows
on the screen of your mind.
This really appeals to the Christians. They figure that all the mess of daily life is only a
shadow of the truth. Suffering will pass and only the soul is real. The soul will one day return
to the ideal world from which it came. St. Jerome* has translated the Scriptures into Latin in
405 and his version becomes the accepted one in the West. Under Augustine* and Jerome*
ecclesiastical Latin takes shape. So Augustine* takes these Neoplatonist* ideas, mixes them
up with the Scriptures, and comes up with a complete set of rules for living and a systematic
structure for Christian society. He writes it all out in The City of God*.
His story claims that ever since that unfortunate incident in the Garden of Eden, there have
been two 'cities' in human society, one is God's, the other is Satan's. God's city (Jerusalem*) is
the church. That means that the state is Satan's city (Babylon*, definitely including that
Satanic practice called theatre). The current disaster of the fall of Rome can be blamed on the
Church's being the servant of a pagan secular authority. That can easily be fixed by having the
state obey the moral authority of the Church. God as the source of all reality means that moral
evil (a turning away from eternal things,) or sin, is due to man's free will. So salvation
depends on the primacy of faith, the Church as the mystical body of Christ and letting God
control human will.
Augustine's* ideas would have had less effect if there hadn't already been a system in place
with which to implement them. Which brings us to the monastic orders and monasticism*.
MonasticismThe idea of withdrawing from the world to contemplate spiritual things has been around
everywhere. Buddha* comes to mind, but the Christians have plenty of Jewish examples to
follow. Usually monasticism includes religious vows and following some fixed organized rule
of living. The beginnings of the Christian monastic* movement appears in Egypt in the third
century but it doesn't really get organized until the fourth century when an obscure guy, St.
Pachomius*, establishes the first Christian monastery (c. 315). He introduces the concept of a
"religious order" which means that there are extremely specific rules for every detail of the
monk's life. This order spreads rapidly through Egypt and Abyssinia and by 410 (where we
are at the moment) there are at least 7,000 Pachomian* monks. The bishop of Alexandria
takes monasticism to Rome in 340. The Eastern Church is doing much the same thing in the
East under St. Basil*. It is not until about 500 that the first permanent working adaptation of
monastic* rule gets going in Rome under a better known guy, St. Benedict*.
What with monasticism* having started in Africa and being well under way by this time
(410), it seems to be the perfect kind of place to implement St. Augustine*'s City ideas. You
can escape the ugly realities of the Vandals, who are crossing from Gibraltar to wipe out
Carthage. Roman rule in Africa is crumbling, so take to the monasteries! The world
(according to Augustine*) isn't worth the study. Belief is more important than earthly
knowledge. So, leaving the sinking ship of state for a life of contemplation can only be for the
best. The watch word for the coming Dark Ages is: understanding comes only through belief.
Martianus CapellaReaction Two - No one is sure when he was born or died but Martianus Capella* flourishss
between 400 and 439 in the same affluent Carthage in Africa. Compared with Augustine*
there is very little we know about Martianus* . He is a Carthaginian proconsul who sees the
Vandals taking the Spanish peninsula in 409 and getting a treaty with Rome to make it legal
in 411. Martianus* can see the ranks of other barbarians pushing in on the diminishing empire
in the West.
His reaction is pragmatic. He can see the good public life of the Empire going down for good.
If anything Roman can survive it will be in a very different kind of world. Fragmentation is
already under way and the future seems to lie in tiny states and cities that will have to make
do on their own. He figures that these Romans will need some condensed Roman knowledge
to help then survive. Martianus* sets to work and produces a Readers Digest version of the
imperial school curriculum, in nine volumes. He divides the work into into two sections. The
first section includes the primary subjects of rhetoric, grammar, and argument, the instruction
earlier Imperial Rome used to win over barbarian tribes with oratory, teach them Latin and
put together the legislation necessary to hold everything together.
The second section includes the more advanced subjects that were needed as the Empire grew,
practical subjects for the daily organization of more sophisticated life. These include music,
geometry, arithmetic and astronomy. Taken together these subjects are known as the seven
liberal arts*, and Martianus* nine books include an encyclopedic anthology of everything
relating to them. For the next six centuries Martianus Capella's* Satyricon: De Nuptiis
Mercurii et Philologie will be the standard reference for education.
The Empire Falls In The West

One interesting occurence is taking place in a rather out-of-the-way spot up north. Around
432, an escaped slave-turned-Christian, who will come to be known as St. Patrick*, converts
the Irish. These hardy Celts already have a pretty good democratic society up and running.
The Irish escape the barbarian invasions and are able to keep a very productive society going
throughout the coming Dark Ages, exporting trained and educated monks to Europe along
with trade goods. They will contribute rather extensively to opening monasteries across
northern Europe. *
Meanwhile, back on the coast of North Africa, we know that Martianus* is through
flourishing by 439 because that is the year when the Vandals take Carthage and the West is
completely overrun by barbarians. The Saxons take Britain, the Visigoths establish their own
kingdom in Gaul, and, as the Vandals push on into North Africa, the Sueves move into Spain.
The Franks surge into Gaul and tussle with the Visigoths. Piracy is rampant in the
Mediterranean. Over in the East they are hanging tough and switching the imperial
administration into Greek.
Attila* the Hun - And The Fall Of The West

Attila* leads that barbaric bunch known as the Huns in devastating northern Italy (in 452) but
his troops are suffering from disease. When Pope Leo bargains with him, Attila* spares
Rome. The Huns are not the only ones knocking at the gates of Rome. In 455 the Vandals are
camped outside the gates and the Pope again buys them off. The Pope and Rome have run out
of buying power and, when there's nothing left to buy them off with, the third group, the
Suevians*, finally sack Rome in 472. Odoacer* leads the Huns in sacking Rome one last time
in 476. Rome ends as it began with a man named Romulus. In the end it is Romulus
Augustulus* who is deposed from the throne of the last Roman emperor in the West. This
date (of 476) is the traditional end of the Roman Empire in the West, but the sacking and
pillaging goes on.
Afterword
The Eastern Empire will continue to exist, increasingly eastern, for over nine hundred years. It
comes to be called the Byzantine* Empire from its center in the city of Byzamtium,
sometimes called Constantinople. We will refer to it whenever it seems appropriate. Since it
becomes increasingly isolated from the west, it also becomes increasingly irrelevant to the
continuation of western civilization. That being the case, we will be looking primarily at the
west.
In the West, things are very messy. Some places escape the rampaging barbarians and
continue on in the Roman villa tradition for many years. Cut off from other surviving nooks
and crannies, these areas gradually sink into decay and disarray. Entertainers are stranded all
over the now-defunct Empire. No doubt they make do as best they can, gradually becoming
traveling entertainers. As can be seen from the map of theatre sites, these entertainers are
widely scattered indeed.
Notes:
The "triumph" can be seen in Hollywood's versions of Cleopatra movies.
This notion of a "thousand year" rule of a country will haunt western civilization, culminating
in the Nazi' notion of a "Thousand Year Reich".
This section is drawn from James Burke's The Day The Universe Changed, both the book and
the television series. Burke has brilliantly and succinctly pointed out one of the most
significant turning points in western civilization. It would be a disservice to his ideas to
merely quote him. I have tried to be faithful to the flow of his ideas while casting them in the
middle of our particular historical pursuit.
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CHAPTER FIVE
After The Fall
The Dark Ages and Why They Aren't So Dark
Introduction - The West Goes Downhill
The usual historical division of periods select the fall of Rome in 476 as the date of choice to
begin the Dark Ages. The period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance is usually
divided into the Dark Ages or Low Middle Ages, followed by the Middle, and High Middle
Ages. This view is essentially Euro-centric and includes a considerable amount of attention to
that vestigial appendage, the Byzantine Empire. This is not really useful for our purposes. We
are concerned with following the cultural developments of that theatre which was born in
Ionian Greece. Consequently we will take a slightly different path with different divisions.
In the fifth century, the world weather pattern takes a turn for the worse. It gets colder. Not
only does this push the Huns out of their now drought-stricken plains of northern Asia into
collision with their neighbors who push into their neighbor, and so on into collision with the
Roman Empire, but crops in northern Europe just don't grow like they used to. So the
barbarians keep moving south into the Roman heartland.
From Classical Light Into The Dark Ages
The Fifth Century
Roman society, and the viable theatre it supported, begins to crumble under the barbarian
incursions that begin in the third century. It is a long and painful death of the Roman Empire
which finally succumbs in the fall of Rome.
Theatres, and productions in them, survive in various centers throughout the empire until they
are overwhelmed (at different times in different places) by migrating tribes and plundered by
other raiding tribes. The craft, if not the art, of theatrical performance survives in small groups
and individuals to gradually reemerge when and where societal conditions are suitable. The
knowledge as recorded in books survives through quite different channels and surfaces in a
different manner, ultimately to be reunited with the practitioners in the Renaissance.
During this entire period (from the fall of Roman society into the 1400's) theatre practice
survives in the hands of roving performers. They are known by a variety of terms according to
the language and time in which they appear. Unfortunately they are known to us almost
entirely through church records prohibiting them from doing whatever theatrical performance
activity they are doing at the time. In a disorganized and embattled society they have no legal
identity. They are denounced as "infamous" by the church and as being "masterless" by local
governments. They pursue a precarious existence continually attacked by the church, but
obviously welcomed as entertainers by those with the wherewithal to pay them. Some of the
names they are known by are troubadours, jonglers, bards, minstrels, scops (in the Germanic
territories), the singers and reciters of stories and tales; others are called mimes, historines,
ludis and these practictioners enact bits and pieces of folk tales and stock character plots.
Whatever the name by which they are called, they are also acrobats, jugglers, animal trainers,
dancers and musicians, with as wide a range of skills as each can master.
They no doubt show up in local celebrations as well, in Morris Dances, Sword Dances and
May celebrations. Think of them as continuing throughout the centuries, always pursued and
denounced by the church.
A note on allegories and morality plays: Somewhere around 400 an orator named
Prudentius* writes a work in praise of Christianity called Psychomachia* . This little opus
deals with the struggle of virtues and vices for the soul of man. Somehow this particular
Christian lesson plan survives and becomes a favorite source for morality* plays. It includes
characters such as Hypocrisy, Heresy and the Prince of this world, as well as the scenic piece
of the Wheel of Fortune*
The later Romance of the Rose* includes allegorical characters. Also, the population (after
their experience with the plague) is increasingly concerned with death. We see this in the
visual arts as well as in the theatre. In drama it is epitomized as the "Dance of Death."
Meanwhile the church (just as we saw in ancient Egypt) makes more and more use of
theatrical elements in their effort to communicate with their flocks. Since those flocks are
illiterate and increasingly understand nothing even of spoken Latin, the importance of graphic
rituals grows. Eventually a socially and religiously acceptable theatre will grow under the
sponsorship of the church.
By the time of the fall of Rome, organized society ceases to exist in Europe. As this comes to
be the case, we will turn to North Africa and the Middle East where theatre texts and other
vital classical documents survive and are preserved. Proceeding chronologically, we will
return to Europe as, and when, cultural activity reemerges. Where earlier it was possible to
maintain something of a narrative flow, you will notice that we now move in fits and starts.*
The End of the Western Empire in Italy
Odoacer* leads the Huns in sacking Rome one last time in 476. He does not, however, sack,
plunder and run. This time he, and his barbarian horde, stay, and start trying to become more
like those people they just conquered. Odoacer* calls himself the King of Italy and moves his
capital from the now rather dilapidated Rome, to Ravenna. When Odoacer* dies, the
"kingdom" has very little to hold it together and Italy begins to split apart into principalities.
A quit different barbarian, an Ostergoth, Theodoric* (500 ff.), becomes ruler of Rome. His
main claim to fame is a scholar he appoints as consul in Ravenna*. This scholar, Boethius*,
translates Aristotle* into Latin and writes The Consolation of Philosophy*. This is an
extensive work of commentaries and original treaties on logic, arithmetic, music and
theology. It becomes another useful addition to knowledge for the monastery libraries. The
disintegration of Italy continues and it will not be reunited until the nineteenth century. Many
of the Italian localities simply pull in their locals and survive as small city-states. Such places,
like Bologna, will save some of the Roman sense of civilization for a later time. So much for
the Italian part of the West.
The western world, organized, civilized, educated and, having learned extensive skills under
Roman tutelage, disappears under the weight of continuing barbarian invasions. The
magnificent network of roads, urban centers and efficient management of resources and trade
erodes. The primeval forests, so laboriously cleared for cultivation, gradually, but irrevocably
return. The West sinks into confusion and disarray with a population that is made up primarily
of illiterate, unskilled tribes moving into the neighborhoods.
Literacy and knowledge retreat into monasteries. The Augustinian world-view that the real
world of disaster and suffering exists only so that we may contemplate the values of the
hereafter prevails. The West becomes culturally comatose and subsistence survival is the rule
of the day.
In a few places, such as Ireland, civilization and commerce avoids the barbarian devastation,
but in most of the West, darkness falls. The fabulous Roman roads fall victim to the
encroaching woods since no one wants (or dares try) to go from one place to another. Tiny
clusters of huts are the only breaks to be found in the great stretches of forests, wild beasts
and wilder men spreading over Europe. In the disintegration of the Empire we need to
consider what happens to the Roman* legacy in the West. There are several threads to follow
which will lead us into the emerging Middle Ages*.
Language - The first thread is the Latin language. Latin continues to be spoken by all the
scattered and stranded Roman citizens. It provides the foundation for all the Romance*
languages. Under the Franks in Gaul it begins to become French. In Italy, under the Lombards
and Goths it evolves into Italian and Italian dialects. In Spain and Portugal, under the
influence of the Vandals and Sueves, it becomes Spanish and Portuguese. In Britain, under the
Angles and Saxons, Latin is almost wiped out. The Teutonic tribes and the Huns are little
influenced by Latin in the changing areas they control. For all the diverse and shifting
populations of the West, Latin is the language of diplomacy, commerce, and, of course,
learning and the Church. Every so often a serious attempt is made to preserve and transmit it.
By the end of the sixth century the gospels have been translated into nine languages. In most
of these languages it is the first written literature.
Law - The second thread is the Roman Law. Owing a great deal to Greek ideas, much of the
western scheme of equality, justice and fair dealing depends on Roman law. It provides a
sense of a world brought together by unbreakable bonds of rights and obligations. Throughout
the Church, Roman jurisprudence becomes the basis of Church canon law. And, through the
Church, the law and its applications spread everywhere the Church is to be found.
The Church - The third thread is the main one through which the Roman legacy is passed in
the West. The Church preserves and adapts Roman organization, gradually acquiring many of
the qualities of the old imperial order so condemned by St. Augustine*. Roman organization
gives shape to Church institutions and Roman political imagination gives strength to the idea
of a Church universal. Even the Roman obsession with Divine Missionaries becomes a
Church obsession. The doctrine that all spiritual power is vested in the Pope and that earthly
power should receive sanction of the spiritual, in effect turns the Pope into a Caesar, a
Pontifex maximus* (the Roman head of the state religion, remember?).
Why Europe Isn't Very Interesting
In The Sixth Century
The long night of the "Dark Ages" descends on Europe. The Sixth through the Eighth
centuries is a time of endings and forgettings. The numerical population of Europe falls to
half what it has been. The few vestiges of social order remaining are in scattered locations in
Italy, France and Spain. The Franks seal the Visigoths in Spain, where they try to bring some
order out of the chaos.
481 - 511 In France, Clovis* (later to be known as "Louis") becomes king of half the Franks
and extends his kingdom. He is followed by a number of Merovingian kings (when Colvis*
dies his kingdom is divided among his four sons) who attempt to maintain some kind of order.
Their efforts are largely futile, but they do begin a system which will gradually evolve into
something that will come to be called feudalism*.
Feudalism is essentially a system of obligations. The king needs help to keep
order and fighting men to defend (and enlarge) his kingdom. But everybody is
busy trying to make ends meet and put food on the table so there are no
available people to serve in specialized areas such as an army. A system of
temporary service evolves, where those in authority can call on those under
them for armed assistance from time to time. In order to make this work, the
king creates "Counts", who, in turn, create "knights." In return for service, the
king rewards each Count with land and plunder and the Count does the same
for his knights. All of them depend on the people who are bound to the land.
These guys will soon be known as serfs, or villeins. The land they have to deal
with is really falling into disrepair. The manorial system usually associated
with feudalism won't rally get going for another three hundred years.
The roads are disappearing in the encroaching forests and the only things moving regularly
are lions, bears, wolves and wild boar. Communication is only through the church, by means
of the brave monks who travel on foot, occasionally actually arriving at their destination.
Literacy vanishes outside the church. As we move into the sixth century there are two
centuries of intermittent plagues.
The only bright spots are in agriculture and the church. In agriculture there are two
discoveries. The moldboard plough (which can deal with European soil in a way the
Mediterranean scratch plough never could) and the switch from oxen to horse power help
clear the forests and increase production by fifty percent. The introduction of legumes (peas,
beans, that stuff) improves nutrition considerably. Gradual improvement of horse power
includes the development of the horse collar and horseshoes.
The church benefits by being the only going concern in sight. All literacy, records,
organization, skills and usable property is concentrated in the church. Particularly, through the
increasing number and industry of the Orders of monks and nuns, the survival skills of
productive labor and knowledge is spread, ever so slowly.
The Roman Empire In The East Hangs On
Obviously there are a number of emperors in the East that we are skipping over. We do,
however, need to take a quick look at a fellow named Justinian*. From 527 to 565 he tries his
best to retake parts of the West and bolster up the Empire. He is aided by his wife (reputed to
be of equal or even greater ability). His wife, the Empress Theodora*, has been an actress so
we know that the theatre can't be all that dead. Justinian* is best known as a major law giver
and codifier of laws. His works become known as the Justinian Code*, and are made up of
twelve tables, or books. These laws will be used throughout western civilization as the basis
for all legal systems. He also manages to recapture some of the western Empire, including
part of Italy. But Justinian's* reign is punctuated by a number of natural catastrophes. There
are frequent earthquakes in Rome, Italy, and the east, as well as a great epidemic of bubonic
plague at the end of his reign (565).
529 Justinian* closes the thousand year old school of philosophy in Athens as an action
against paganism. As a result many of these teachers leave, going to Persia and Syria where
they will pass their knowledge, and books. on into the later Arab culture.
The eastern Empire is really a continuation of Alexander's rather than Rome's. Its intellectual
center is Alexandria. In both the East and the West, the power and wealth of the church
increases. Finally, the Bishops control the administration and church property as well as all
the monasteries*.
The Eastern Empire will continue to exist, increasingly eastern, for over nine hundred years. It
comes to be called the Byzantine* Empire from its center in the city of Byzantium, sometimes
called Constantinople. We will refer to it whenever it seems appropriate. Since it becomes
increasingly isolated from the West, it also becomes increasingly irrelevant to the
continuation of western civilization. When that is the case, we will be looking primarily at the
West.
Social governance
the Caesar/Brutus Divergence
The memories of the Roman Republic as the embodiment of a golden age of frugality,
honesty, simplicity and courage (the Brutus point of view) will haunt the psyche of the West
to emerge in the American and French Revolutions. Meanwhile, the (Caesar's view) notion of
imperial order, especially of world empire, will pervade the imagination of western leaders.
From here on, western history will be driven by the aspirations of a whole series of men who
aspire to the role of Caesar or emperor.
529 St. Benedict founds the Monastery of Monte Cassion and the Benedictine Order. The
primary importance of this particular Christian organization to theatre is that (perhaps because
of Benedict's Roman culture and education) it will be the the one to foster and develop
theatrical works (even if it is primarily for religious purposes).
The Benedictine* Order makes self-sufficent communities based on the view that to work is
to pray. Such simple problems as the need to know the "canonical hours", when to pray and
perform rituals, lead to the development of clocks.
533 - Last known reference to Western Roman theatre (in Ravenna and Rome) in reign of
Athalaric.
550 In the mid 500's St. Columban* works on France and Switzerland.
563 St. Columba* begins the conversion of Scotland and England.
587 With the rise of Christian* power there is increasing persecution of the Jews, especially
in Spain* where the Visigoths accept Christianity.
603 Justinian's* Body of Civil Laws, along with the Key to the Laws (Digest) is lost in 603
and nobody knows how to manage things now. Freedom is meaningless in a world of anarchy.
Where And How Islam Begins
The Seventh Century
The Arabian* peninsula, extending southeast into the Indian Ocean, occupies a pivotal trading
position, bounded by the Red Sea on the West and the Persian Gulf on the east. Despite its
historical position as the major trade connection between the western empires and the riches
of India*, China* and the mysterious East, it has never truly been a part of any empire. The
Semitic desert tribes rule themselves, and occasionally, their neighbors. They pay only minor
lip service to the changing powers to their north who provide protection for the vital trade
routes. Culturally, these people are familiar with the whole range of Greek and Roman ideas
and texts, as well as many Persian and Eastern works. At the height of the Roman Empire,* a
small strip of the western shore on the Red Sea was under Roman control with individual
trading cities ruling themselves throughout the rest of the area.
However, the religions of their neighbors also filter into the desert and settle in the trading
towns and cities. The trading city of Mecca* is a place of pilgrimage and sanctuary where the
protection of hospitality prevails. Dominated by the old religion of the desert tribes, it houses
the Kaaba*, a square temple of black stones with an ancient meteorite as a cornerstone. The
meteorite is regarded as a god who protects all the other tribal gods of Arabia. Jews,
Christians and Zoroastrians, too, have many followers here and throughout Arabia*. Medina*,
to the northeast, tends more toward the Jewish faith and has a number of Jewish settlements
nearby.
Mecca*
Mecca*, this prosperous and influential trading center, serves as home to an Arabian version
of a literary Olympics, with recitations of poetry. Tribal Sheiks under a "King of the Poets,"
judge and award prizes for poetry. The arts of music, architecture, art and poetry play a big
role in Arabic culture. Unfortunately for us, theatre does not. The Judaic prohibition against
making graven images is taken up by the Arabic peoples, and realistic imitation of nature and
of persons is forbidden. Recitation and talking are the primary diversions. Endless religious
discussion ensues during the fairs which flourish as pilgrims and trading caravans come and
go.
c. 570 Mohammed* is born into this culture and lives an undistinguished life for forty years.
Then, having been exposed to years of religious discussion, Mohammed* begins to talk to a
few friends and relations about his own views of the reality and unity of one god. In the
tradition of his people he writes a few verses (revealed to him by an angel) asserting the unity
of god, providing some generalizations about righteousness, a future hell for the negligent and
evil, and, paradise for the believer in the One God.
c. 580 For some ten years Mohammed* continues to speak and write, claiming to be a new
prophet crowning and completing the work of earlier Jewish prophets from Abraham through
Jesus*. His followers exist as a small [c. 619] cult, gradually gathering strength and numbers.
Eventually, the local leaders are beginning to be upset by this new movement. Mecca*
depends on a polytheistic cult for its wide reputation as a site for annual pilgrimage. Attempts
are made to suppress Mohammed*'s open preaching and many of his followers flee, taking
refuge in Christian Abyssinia.
Medina*
When things begin to look pretty bleak in Mecca*, Medina* invites Mohammed* to move
there and rule. After two years planning and sending followers to prepare the way, he escapes
a murder plot and flees to 622 Medina* (this flight is known as the Hegira*), September 20,
622, and begins his time of power. His early reign is very Bedouin with lots of raids on
caravans. This leads to larger battles with the Meccans and hostilities continue for some years.
Finally a truce is concluded which extends the rule of the Prophet to Mecca*. Part of the
bargain is that the faithful will turn to Mecca* to pray instead of to Jerusalem. More important
to the leaders in Mecca is that the new faith will maintain that city as the center of religious
pilgrimage.
Islam* Spreads Like Wildfire
Through The Seventh Century
Mohammed* begins to give up on the notion that Jews and Christians worship the same god
he does. Allah* becomes his special god and is tethered to the meteoric stone of the Kaaba*.
The faith he propounds is exceptionally democratic and attractive. He preaches a great sermon
after his last pilgrimage from Medina* to Mecca* establishing a tradition of fair dealing and
generosity, creating a society (Islam*) more free from the widespread cruelty and social
oppression than any preceding one. All Muslims are brothers and equals. Priests and sacrifices
are forbidden. Islamic doctrines avoid any of the elements that cause disagreements and
abuses for the Christians.
632 By the time of Mohammed*'s death in 632 his power has spread over all Arabia*.
Peoples are welded together with the cement of religion and Islam* is pitted against a corrupt
Christianity and the decaying tradition of the Zoroastrian Magi. A close friend and supporter,
Abu Bekr*, succeeds Mohammed* as "Caliph" (Kalipha = successor) of the Islamic people,
setting himself the task of organizing the subjugation of the whole world to Allah*. Arabia* is
now the center of will and faith, while almost all the rest of the world is in turmoil and
disarray.
634 The military campaigns now begin. Bekr* dies in 634 and Omar* (634-644) becomes
Caliph, leading the major conquests. Islam* sweeps out of Arabia* into Persia*, Syria* and
parts of the Byzantine Empire. Everywhere Christians, Jews and Arabs join the invaders.
From the outset, the Bedouin aristocrats of Mecca* dominate the new empire. The family of
the Omayyads* provide the Caliphs for almost a century. Two attitudes prevail in the rise of
Islam. On one hand the movement brings the broadest, freshest and cleanest political idea yet
to sweep the world. It offers better terms than any so far to the mass of mankind. On the other
hand, as with previous movements, the austerity of the leaders slips into the desire for wealth
and conspicuous consumption. Great palaces and gorgeous clothes emerge as the mark of the
conquerors
A new theme of aristocratic greediness emerges. Claims of the right to rule come from
Mohammed's relatives and a series of struggles begin between Medina* families and
Meccan* aristocrats. Leadership of Islam* slips into squalid disputes of bickering heirs and
widows. The quarrel continues today between the Shiites* (maintaining the hereditary right of
Mohammed*'s nephew, and son-in-law, Ali, to be Caliph as an article of faith) and the
Sunnites* (who deny this particular addition to the Muslim creed).
Unfortunately Mohammed* is ignorant of history and the political experiences of Greece and
Rome. Consequently, he leaves his followers no scheme for a stable government to embody
and concentrate the will of the faithful. There is no effective form or body of laws to express
the spirit of democracy that prevades Islamic teaching. Islam remains autocratic, regressing
from the customary, more democratic, laws of the desert.
For 125 years Islam* spreads from the Indus valley in the east to the Atlantic and Spain in the
West, from the borders of China in the north through Upper Egypt in the south. The conquests
flow in the reverse of the earlier Vandals, until finally it is stopped in France. We will pick
these conquerors up as they establish cultural centers.
646 - Down in that center of learning, Alexandria*, they are losing the library. The Christians,
mistaking it for a pagan temple, burn it. Then the barbarians burn it. Finally, the Arab armies
take Alexandria in 646 and finish burning it. With this last blow, the lamp of western culture
is truly out.
Back in Europe, Briefly.
A few random things are going on, an abbey built here, a cathedral there.
680 Over in Spain, the locals crown a fellow names Erwig who, being an aggressive, newly
converted Christian, calls for an extermination of the Jews
681 In England, Gloucester Abbey is founded.
685 Winchester Cathedral* is founded.
692 Among the Moslems, the Omayyads* become the leading family in the power leadership
business.
694 That persecution of Jews in Spain leads to a Jewish revolt which is crushed by the
Visigoths.
c.700 Easter eggs become the thing among Christians as the pagan symbols blend with
Christianity.
715 Up in Germany, St. Boniface* is spending his time vigorously converting everybody in
sight for the next forty years.
Islam* Enters Europe
As We Enter The Eighth Century
710 The Arabs begin reconnaissance for an invasion of Spain*. Led by Jubal-Tarik* (from
whom we get the name Gibralter) the invasion gets a real local boost from all the Christians,
Jews and disaffected
711 Visigoths who hate the way things are going at home. The Arabs cross the strait from
Africa and begin to take Spain away from the Visigoths. Rolling up Cordoba, Toledo,
Medina, Zaragoza, and all of southern Spain (which they call Al-Andalus, the land of the
vandals, or
712 Andalusia*), they sweep over the Pyrenees and threaten central France.
732 They are finally thrown back at Tours by a rising Frankish mayor called Charles Martel*
(Better known as "The Hammer".) Despite continuing battles with the Christian barbarians in
northern Spain, the Arabs settle in to turn their part of Spain into an economic and cultural
paradise.
749 Back home in Islam there is a power change. The center of power moves north to
Damascus* and then to Bagdad*. The Omayyads* are out and the Abbasids* (taking up the
Shiite* cause) are in. The main relevance of this for our purposes is that the Islamic empire
splits and the Omayyads* control Spain, the Mediterranean and North Africa, setting up their
own empire capital in Cordoba, Spain. Independent Moslem* states rise. This political infighting doesn't affect trade
751 and cultural diffusion. When the Arabs take Samarakand,* they get a Chinese papermaking factory. Paper begins to be made all over the Arab world.
With most of Spain* under Moslem control, Musa* and his son Abdul Aziz* set up a working
society with effective and humane rules. Their primary interest is establishing a flow of
revenue so taxes are lightened, people are no longer bound to their craft or land (except the
serfs, of course) and the temporal power of the Christian church is destroyed. Religion is not
suppressed but half of every big cathedral is made into a mosque. All the Christian laws
afflicting the Jews are abolished. No Moslem, but all infidels (non-Moslems) have to pay
taxes. The Jews who have fled to Africa to escape persecution return to this enlightened
climate.
Arab culture is really taking off in Arabia* and will soon spread to Spain*. The books and
knowledge the Arabs have picked up from the Nestorian monks at Edessa (in Persia) include
Greek and Persian medical texts. A medical school and hospital opens in Bagdad* and the
Arab
765 reputation for fine medicine begins.
The Spanish Omayyads* make another trip over the Pyrenees and are again turned back. But
the Jews in the invading Moslem troops remain in Narbonne and southern France, where they
are safeguarded for four hundred years by treaties with Charles Martel's son, Pepin*, and
grandson, Charlemagne*. Which, of course, brings us to Charlemagne, who is really a
remnant of the old Roman Empire.
Charlemagne*
And The Brief Revival Of The Empire In The West
After a time, somewhere around the eighth century, there is a brief break in the barbarian
invasions. Gradually, small communities link into a loose manor-type system, entirely
autonomous, with illiterate serfs serving an equally illiterate lord. The only literacy to be
found is in the Church, particularly in the monasteries*. During this lull there is a brief
cultural recovery, led by a remarkable man. Which takes us to the false dawn of what looks
like a break in the Dark Ages.
Charlemagne* (742-814) comes to the throne of Frankland in 772 and leaps into action. An
organizer and leader in the old Roman tradition, he begins to whip things into shape. The
clergy are a mess, boozing, gambling, wenching, engaging in trade and fighting. From his
capital in Aachen, Charlemagne's* first step is to standardize religious practice because he
needs administrators who are properly trained.
He establishes schools in every monastery* and cathedral in France. The schools are to teach
literacy, a standardized writing script (Carolingian minuscule), and Capella's* seven liberal
arts. From this time on these liberal arts will be taught all over Europe. Minimal education
comes to be offered free and the main cathedral schools become centers of intellectual activity
in Paris, Chartres, Lyon and Reims. Charlemagne* orders his scribes to copy all the ancient
manuscripts they can find, in order to preserve them from disappearing down the tube. He is
also a big-time military leader, bringing large sections of Europe under his control. In 800
Charlemagne* is crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III* and this lays the foundations for the
Holy Roman Empire.
What is even more relevant here, at the moment, is another movement that occurs at the same
time as Charlemagne. The Vikings* are coming.
The Vikings* - Scourge From The North
As We Enter The Ninth Century
Up in northeastern Europe, unaffected by either the Romans or the central European
invasions, another barbarian group has been developing their own individualistic culture.
Related to the Angles, Saxon and Jutes who have invaded England, the Scandinavians and
Danes have settled the peninsulas of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as productive farmers
and expert fishermen. They are not literate and have no written language, but like many other
tribes they have a strong bardic* oral tradition, rich in spoken sagas*. We know them from
the annals of literate people they invade, as well as from later archeological evidence.
For some unknown reason, (the colder weather, overpopulation or the increased seaworthiness
of their ships) they suddenly turn to i viking (raiders striking through vik, bays or inlets). In
their distinctive long ships, they descend on England, Ireland, Europe, and the Mediterranean.
Pushing south and east they establish the first Russian kingdom, fight Constantinople,
eventually providing a personal guard for the Byzantine emperor. Further off, they settle
Iceland, put colonies on Greenland and take a few trips to America. For two and a half
centuries, they run their course, leaving cultural as well as population changes in their wake.
Then they subside into settled societies and disappear into local cultures. Like earlier
barbarian hordes they appear in two different ways, as plunderers, and, as traders and settlers.
The Vikings* first recorded appearance on the European scene is 787 or when they raid the
southern coast of England. They are called Danes in 789 English records. The French call
them Normans. They sack their first
793 monastery at Lindisfarne off the English coast of Northumbria. When
800 Charlemagne* is crowned Holy Roman Emperor marking the false dawn of new learning
and culture, Viking* pin-point raids are starting on the coast of Europe.
Simultaneously Back in the East
As Europe is beginning to suffer the scourge of the Vikings*, Islam* is creating a world
cultural center in Bagdad* under Haroun-Al-Raschid* 786 to , the Caliph better known to us
from The Arabian Nights. In Bagdad and 809 its empire, trade and wealth prosper and
flourish. They finally come up with a working system of administration, part an inheritance
from the Romans, and part Persian. Christians, pagans and Jews are widely employed in
government service and enjoy the freedom to practice their own religious ways.
As trade and conquest pour wealth into the hands of the powerful monied class, they, like the
Romans before them, turn to promoting social and cultural works. Arts, literature, philosophy,
poetry and building flourish. Schools and charities blossom. All are constructed entirely of
fragments from all the empires Islam has over run. The Holy Islamic War degenerates into a
systematic accumulation of plunder.
* In this Arabian* Islamic Empire, Arabic replaces Greek as the language of speech and
writing and the intellectual life of the Arabic speaking world spreads over the old Hellenic
world. History flourishes as well as biography, romantic fiction and the short story.
Educational systems develop as does all literature. There is an enormous revival of human
pursuit of science. In addition to the Hellenistic medicine and mathematics, they have close
contact with the Sanskrit literature and physical science of India. Sometime, who knows
when, they come up with Arabic numerals (a big step up from Roman numerals if you want to
do any useful math), the concept of the zero and the decimal point. [The Indians claim they
provided these last two.] They practically invent Algebra.
Vikings Move On As Does Islamic Culture
The world weather has shifted from the earlier cold pattern and it has gotten warmer. As the
Vikings sail the northern seas the lands they encounter are more suitable for crops than they
are now. The Baltic area, Iceland and Greenland, are all much more likely places for farming
and settlement. Christianity is spreading, especially through the diligent efforts of the Irish.
Some trade returns, mostly by water, through the river networks and along the coastal rims of
the Mediterranean and the North Sea.
800 In Ireland the famous and beautiful Book of Kells* has been finished but the Vikings are
about to descend on the relatively peaceful and very productive Irish culture.
Charlemagne* is anointed Holy Roman Emperor* of the West in Rome.
Manoralism, the economic and social system associated with feudalism* is really spread by
Charlemagne. It works like this: The lord would live in a "manor" and act as protector,
governor and judge to his serfs (villeins who live in a village, derived from the Roman villa.)
The manor is essentially a self-sufficient estate, just like the old Roman ones. Some might
include a number of villages. The "lord" is essential to the system and every man has to
"belong" to some lord. The crime of being a "masterless" man can result in death or slavery.
This system of binding people together will persist for hundreds of years. Being "masterless"
is the charge regularly brought against traveling players.
809 With the death of Haroun-Al-Raschid* the Islamic empire centered in Bagdad falls into
civil war and confusion where it will remain for two hundred years (until the Turks take over
leadership).
813 In Europe Charlemagne* crowns his son, Louis the Pious* his heir.
814 Charlemagne* dies (see above) and Louis*, very shortly thereafter, is left to face the
Viking attacks which will begin to threaten his empire.
822 The cultural splendor of Islam blossoms in Spain. Music schools sprout up in Medina
(Spain). In Cordoba* a musician named Ziryab* sets up a music school patterned after the old
conservatories in Bagdad*. He becomes the defacto minister of culture and influences every
part of Spanish cultural life. He introduces new styles and variations of musical instruments,
develops food and food serving, organizes a glass factory to produce tableware, establishes a
school for women to teach cosmetology and fashion, brings in astrologers from India to teach
chess. Most influential of all Ziryab* develops the trading Jews in an enterprise to bring arts
and cultural resources from all over the world into Spain. Their travels take them to India,
China, Egypt, Gaul, Rome, Byzantium, Muscovy and the eastern European Jewish kingdom
of Khazaria*.
839 Viking raids are increasing and the first great viking chief leads a big group to plunder
and rule in Ireland. They rage through northern
840 Ireland and establish their rule from Dublin*.
840 The empire left to Louis the Pious* by Charlemagne* is split among Louis' three sons at
his death. Viking raids begin on France, Germany
841 and the low countries (now the Netherlands and Belgium). Viking raids begin on Rouen*
and proceed to Paris*. In Norway, a guy called Halfdan gets the best of the other nobles and
founds a monarchy.
842 Turkish mercenaries are converted to Islam and join Arab armies. Eventually Turks will
take over the eastern Islamic empire from the Arabs.
844 Vikings raid Spain, pillaging and sacking Seville*. Some of them stay. In Scotland a guy
named Kenneth* defeats the Picts* and becomes the sole king.
[You may notice that some places are beginning to get a country together under a king.]
845 Vikings destroy Hamburg and penetrate into Germany.
846 The Arabs sack Rome, damage the Vatican and destroy the Venetian fleet.
[You may also notice that these centuries are largely a time of sack, plunder, pillage and
burn.]
850 In Spain, Christians are so well treated that there is a backlash Christian movement to
renew the old martyr status and some Christians try hard to get the Moslems to make martyrs
of them.
851 Vikings (called Danes in Britain) maraud up the Thames (England) and attack
Canterbury*.
859 Another bunch of Vikings* go east into Russia*. Under Rurik* (later
860 known as the first Russian grand prince), they land on the Baltic coast of Russia (called
"Rus") enlarging their hold and setting up trading centers, notably Kiev*.
Meanwhile the Vikings in Denmark unite Jutland and the Danish Isles under Gorm the
Elder*, the first king of Denmark.
861 Vikings ravage central Europe, sacking Paris, Tolouse. Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle and
Worms.
862 Back in Russia, Rurik* founds the city of Novgorod*.
865 These Russian Vikings push down the Dnieper* to the Black Sea* attacking
Constantinople*.
The Vikings in England (Danes) occupy Northumbria and East Anglia and 866 they establish
a kingdom in York
869 The Arabs take the island of Malta.
871 Alfred the Great* comes to the English throne.
874 A different group of Vikings, under Ingol and Leif take a group to Iceland and start a
settlement.
878 Alfred* recaptures London from the "Danes" (English Vikings) and works out a treaty
with them establishing boundaries for each side.
880's Among the European Vikings, a system of military groups develops. These are Vikings
who, rather than just going off on the occasional raiding party, make a profession of fighting.
One of the groups grows into the famous Jomsvikings*, an order of Viking knights. They
have a stronghold in which they train rigorously when they aren't out fighting. They also live
under a severe set of rules, much like monks. The later rise of European chivalry* and that of
the religious military orders owe much to the standards of the Jomsvikings*.
903 The Arabs begin writing geography books based on the travels of the trading Jews and
the Arabs: Book of Lands, The Wonders of India, The Book of the Roads.
Theatre Reappears In Bits And Pieces
As We Move Onward Into The Tenth Century
The old empire of Charlemagne* crumbles under Viking attacks. But enormous strides in
acquiring international culture are being made through a little known and unlikely means, the
traveling Jewish trader. In the region of the Crimea the Jewish kingdom of Khazaria*
dominates, barring the way of the Vikings advance from the north and Islamic armies from
the south. The pagan nations of this region held a great debate on the relative values of current
religions and the Jews won. They are invited to rule. Khazaria* occupies the lower reaches of
the Volga and northern Caucacus. The multilingual Jews are not carriers of either Christian or
Moslem creed and are literate in at least one other language. This makes them eminently
suited for foreign trade since they are admitted everywhere. In the geography text, Book of
the Roads, there is a chapter entitled "The Routes of the Jewish Merchants Called Radanites."
(from the Persian rah'dan meaning "he who knows the way") which describes the incredible
range of territory these Jews regularly traveled. Unfortunately, at about this time, China
becomes xenophobic (fear of foreigners) and the mongolian Tartars ring China, blocking
trade. This change in trade enables Venice to develop trade monopolies and many of the Jews
retire from trade to the Spanish islands of Minorca and Majorca where they teach navigation.
This may seem a bit obscure, but it will blossom later with the navigation skills to discover
America.
The tenth century is also the time when Flanders (up there in the Low Countries) becomes the
center of cloth production for Europe. Obviously they are beginning to become pretty wealthy
too.
900's - A secular play, Ecbasis Captivi* has as its subject matter stories from Aesop's Fables*.
911 The Vikings in France (known as Normans) under their leader, Rollo, appear on the lower
Seine. Charles the Simple*, king of the West Franks, offers to give them a grant of land if
they become Christians. They do and he does, and their territory comes to be called
Normandy (the land of the Normans.) They settle in, learn French, and will figure greatly in
much later fighting and conquering.
*911 - We are beginning to hear about secular entertainment at Christmas revels. There are
fun things like a popular ventriloquist farce of late antiquity, Comedia Bile* that features a
bunch of talking fish. This one survives into the fifteenth century as one of the star acts of the
mimes*.
912 The Russian Vikings under Oleg* have a confederacy of towns and provinces ruled by
Viking princes and, for the time being, have the eastern Slavs under control.
c. 925 At this time we find the earliest extant reference to the trope*, an Easter church
recitation of dialog between the Angels and the three Marys at Christ's tomb:
Angels: Whom seek ye in the tomb, O Christians?
The three Marys: Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified, O Heavenly Beings.
Angels: He is not here, he is risen as he foretold. Go and
announce that he is risen from the tomb.*
10th century Liturgical Drama (performed by and for the clergy) is widely done in
Benedictine monasteries, especially in France (Limoges and Fleury), Switzerland (St. Gall),
Germany (Richenau) and Spain (Ripoll.)
930 The Viking settlement on Iceland has at least twenty thousand people and a democratic
government, the Althing*, an all island parliament.
932 Spain, with its capital in Cordoba, is the jewel in the crown of Islam. The irrigation
systems (started by the Romans) from Syria and Arabia* turn Andalusia's dry plains into an
agricultural bonanza. The Arabs bring a whole new range of plants to grow in Spain. Fruits
(like oranges, lemons, bananas and figs), spices, nuts, and basic grains like rice, flourish
across Islamic Spain. Aesthetically irrigation makes possible the formal gardens of the
Alhambra.
European leaders begin to come to Spain to study.
Saxony Rises As A Force In Europe

The tenth century is a time of gradual change. The warm climate continues. Trade improves,
production increases, technology inches forward and and the weather stays warmer. Resident
barbarian tribes are beginning to develop into social units, acquiring laws and a semblance of
social order. The cult of Mary begins to be very popular, starting a trend that improves the
place and standing of women in Christian society. Slowly but surely the view of woman as
Eve, the cause of sin, is softened by the view of women as similar to the Virgin Mary, mother
of God and deserving of respect and veneration.
The Vikings are a trial in certain localities, but other geographic areas get on with the business
of making life just a little better than awful.
936 The tenth century is the time of the rise of the Saxons (a Germanic tribe centered in
Germany). Duke Otto* (later known as Otto I the Great) is elected king. He proves to be a
terrific warrior, beating his eastern neighbors, the Slavs, Bohemians and Magyars. Saxony is
important because Hroswitha* (also known as Rroswitha) is born there a year earlier. We will
be talking about her later.
940 One of those European leaders mentioned earlier, in this case a guy named Gerbert (later
to become Pope), goes to study in Spain.
950 England is beginning to shape up as something of an organized society under AngloSaxon law. There are few noblemen, a large class of thanes (landed gentry, often well-off),
churls (ordinary free men who can own and sell land, and are farmers and craftsmen), serfs
(bound to the land, can be bought and sold with the land, and can be freed), and slaves (
usually prisoners of war and condemned men unable to pay their fines.)
951 Otto I* (that Saxon) marries the daughter of the king of Burgundy (she's also the widow
of the king of Italy) thereby becoming king of the Franks and Lombards, too.
955 Otto I* defeats the Magyars and Slavs
Theatre Appears Momentarily
We have finally arrived at a moment of theatrical history, probably due in part to the
effectiveness of Otto I* as a ruler.
959 Hroswitha, a Benedictine abbess of Gandershiem in Saxony, writes six original prose
Latin comedies in imitation of Terence*. The subjects are Christian history and morality.
They deal with miracles and non-present characters which makes them, in a way, early
versions of the later Miracle* and Morality* plays. They have lively dialog and owe
something to native farce. Since the church has need of examples of good writing style to
teach literacy, Hroswitha* takes the view that the content should also instruct. Her plays are
designed to teach Christian values while providing good literate style. They are also quite
funny. It is often questioned whether or not the plays were written to be acted. Evidence
supplied by the plays themselves tends to support the view that they were. There is even some
evidence that at least one of them was performed for a visiting Abbot, and perhaps, for a visit
of Otto I*, himself. All six of her plays survive. These are: Paphnutius*, Dulcitius*,
Gallicanus*, Callimachus*, Abraham*, and Sapientia.
Sometime in here the first Anglo-Saxon literary work, Beowulf, is composed.

962 Otto I* gets himself crowned and anointed Holy Roman Emperor* in the West.
966 The last great era of Moslem Spain starts under Hakam II* in Cordoba. The library and
education are the finest available. Twenty-seven advanced public schools supply tuition free
education and the University of Cordoba draw scholars from all over.
967 Otto II* is crowned emperor in Rome.
10th century, the time of Otto I*, visitors to Byzantium tell of seeing performances. A
survival in the Eastern Empire is a passion play of ten scenes (although this one could have
been imported from Europe).
c. 969-975 Apparently the English pick up on Hroswitha's ideas, or perhaps these ideas are
just popular, but from up in England we have an extant church playlet complete with stage
directions for performance. It appears in the Monastic Agreement compiled by Ethelwold,
Bishop of Winchester. Liturgical (playlets used in connection with the liturgy in the Mass and
other services) drama can often be found throughout Europe in Benedictine monasteries.
*985 Those Icelandic Vikings keep moving west as Eric the Red* goes to Greenland.
987 In France the last of the Carolingian (descendents of Charles Martel) kings dies and a guy
called Hugh Capet* becomes king, founding the Capetian line.
990 Mechanical productivity is on the rise in Europe with hemp mills in southern France, and
mills of all kind spreading. There is a population explosion in Europe. In the next century the
introduction of the new loom increases cloth production.
999 Brian Boru*, in Ireland, rallys the Irish to subdue the Vikings.
Afterword
With all the economic and social progress going on, this is a good point on which to end the
chapter. There is a "Holy Roman Empire" (under the German, Otto II*) sort of putting things
together in central Europe. We have seen the rise of literary comedy with Hroswitha*'s
imitations of the comedy style of Terence. This sort of this will become big in the Lowlands
(Netherlands, Belgium, places like that). The Curch is beginning to do dramatizations (the
Trope*) of the Mystery (Passion of Christ) business as a rather regular thing around Easter. In
the Islamic part of the world, there is the highest level of culture and education in Moslem
Spain. Anglo-Saxon literature is just beginning (Beowulf), and the first references to the
production of religious plays are showing up. Things are, of course, about to change again.
go forward to chap6
home Home
CHAPTER SIX
Into The Middle Ages
Introduction
We begin a new chapter here because things are about to take another abrupt change. The
darkness of the Dark Ages is disappearing in the light of economic, social and physical
reconstruction in the West. It is also yeilding to the light of classical knowledge, preserved
and enhanced by the Islamic culture as it spread over the old Alexandrian Empire. This
knowledge from Arabic sources, particularly Spain, will trickle very slowly into the West. By
the end of the Middle Ages the trickle will turn into a flood and that will trigger the
Renaissance.
Meanwhile, the five hundred years (give or take) that make up the Middle and High Middle
Ages, have many ups and downs. If you remember our original premise, [see the Introduction
and Chapter One] we need a society that is, at least partly, democratic to produce classic
theatre. We also need a society that is reasonably stable and economically well off. So far,
Europe in the Dark Ages has produced none of these. That is now beginning to change.
Europe Moves On
Into The Eleventh Century
1000's on - Most of the professional entertainers are called minstrels* since almost all of them
can sing, act, play instruments, dance and, often, tumble and do acrobatics. These minstrels*
are popular among nobles and clergy throughout Europe.
* In the courts of ruling houses there are other forms of entertainments known as Mummings*
and Disguisings*. These are mainly court entertainments which comes from the local
celebrations like sword dances, dance of the buffoons, and Morris dances (where their
blackened faces and bells may have come from the Moors). Especially in Britain, these
usually include a clown, a fool, a hobby horse, a man dressed as Maid Marion and sometimes
a dragon and St. George.
The Mummer's Plays* are done in dumb show, masks and disguises. They are given at
Christmas and their plots revolve around the apparent death of someone, a doctor comes in,
does some really weird things, and the dead person is brought back to life. (Sounds a lot like
the ancient Egyptian death and resurrection plays and probably owes a great deal to all the
pagan winter celebrations.) In the Christmas plays Father Christmas is the presenter. The play
is taken from house to house.
Other Disguisings* are performed during the carnival season prior to Lent. (Some of these
persist down to the present day.) These Disguisings* will lead to the Renaissance court
Masques* and Italian intermezzi*, and the French ballet de cour*. Disguisings* are done for
all occasions.
1000 - By this time the School of Salerno, near Naples, Italy, has introduced Arabian
medicine into southern Italy. Because of Otto* and the Empire, the knowledge spreads
throughout Europe. The Viking, Lief Erikson*, makes his first voyage to America, but hardly
anybody knows about it.
1010 - Things begin to fall apart in Moslem Spain. There are revolts in leadership, and
Cordoba, as well as all Andalusia, descends into chaos. Their Christian neighbors regard this
as a golden opportunity and immediately start attacking.
1013 - Cordoba falls and, as usual, the library is destroyed. Fortunately much of the contents
are saved and dispersed, especially to Toledo*.
1014 - The Vikings help King Ethelred* retake London, pulling down London Bridge
(remembered in the children's song) in the process.
1016 - England is now ruled by a part-viking named Canute*, who is married to ex-viking
William of Normandy's* sister. This will lead to a real can of worms about English succession
and a big change in the fortunes of England.
1028 - Canute* conquers Norway (he now rules Denmark, England and Norway.)
1040 - The Italians are finally beginning to apply their learning to the problem of law and a
Bolognese jurist Gratian* produces a lawyers textbook. Bologna is now the center of legal
learning in Europe.
1044 - The first recorded reference to the use of gunpowder. They use it in the bombard*, a
really useless early type of cannon. Gunpowder won't be widely used until later, but times are
changing.
1050 - By now, every cathedral in Europe has a school. More useful to education, the
Byzantine* Empire is importing Arabian paper and paper is being made in Moslem Spain.
1053 - Henry IV (German, of course) is crowned Holy Roman Emperor*.
*1060 - At Nevers. a Nativity Play is performed. Soon these show up all over. In France
there are 11th century tropes for Christmas festivals. At Limoges these include episodes about
the shepherds, the Magi and the manager scene. As time goes by scenes are added to include
Herod, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the massacre of the innocents and the flight into
Egypt.
1065 - The consecration of Westminster Abbey* in England.
1066 - The famous Battle of Hastings* is fought when William the Conqueror*, in a dispute
over who inherits the English throne, crosses the English Channel and takes England. This
throws the current English language into disrepute and it will take a few centuries for the new
English language to rise from a blend of Norman French and native Anglo-Saxon. There is an
anti-Jewish uprising in Granada. The beginning of what will come to be an all out
persecution.
1071 - The wild and aggressive Turkish tribes the Arabs had been employing as slaves and
mercenaries have replaced their masters and are now running things in Egypt (known as the
Seljuk Turks from their homeland.) They take Jerusalem* away from the resident Arabs. They
are much more aggressively puritanically Moslem than their former masters and start to make
things very difficult for Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land* . They also begin to push into
what remains of the Byzantine Empire*.
1076 - The rising social organization in Europe gets some help from the rediscovery of the
Digest*, (that condensed version of Justinian's laws) apparently in Ravenna.
The Eleventh Century
Moslems Decline And The Crusades Begin
By the middle of this century the Moslems are beginning to be pushed back from the
European territories they have conquered. This is especially true in Spain where Alphonzo VI
reunites the three northern Christian kingdoms of Leon, Calicia and Castile. This unification
makes it possible for him to move against the Moslems to his south. His armies are led by the
fabled El Cid* (from the Arabic Sidi meaning Lord,) known to his friends as Rodrigo Diaz de
Vibar*. Many legends, poems, and a general myth grows up around Rodrigo, encouraged by
the Pope who needs a really catchy public relations image to sell his push for the Reconguest
of Moslem territories. El Cid* is billed as the perfect knight, battling the dissolute, evil
Moslem hordes. Unfortunately this is all Christian negative advertising. Local accounts show
him to be a raping, pillaging barbarian just like everybody else. (The code of chivalry isn't
really up and running yet.) The Arabs are considerably more civilized, and often more
chivalrous, than their Christian opponents. But the winners write the legends, as well as the
history books. The majority of the defended cities in Spain fall, not to armed might, but to
bargaining, intrigue and, as seems to be the case in the famous fall of Toledo, to the local ruler
deciding life is safer somewhere else.
11th & 12th centuries - Very slowly there is the development of craft guilds. These are
developed as protective organizations against the oppression of local feudal lords and to help
merchants make connections in other towns when they travel for trade. These guilds are
hierarchically organized (a power pyramid). At the top they are governed by council of
masters (owners and supervisors) of the particular trade. The main workers in the trade are
journeymen (skilled enough to work on their own, but they work for wages.) Low boys on the
totem pole are the apprentices (they usually apprentice for seven years for no pay, but they get
room and board.) When towns becomes self-governing (instead of being bound to a feudal
lord) the guilds have the power. They elect the mayor and town council from among
themselves.
1085 Toledo falls (that is, its ruler wants to get out, and does) to El Cid* and Alphonso VI
(who has a lot of connections in town since he spends a number of years here as an exile from
his own territories). This is a definite advantage to the west because, for once, the library is
not burned and survives intact. Scholars stream in to study the terrific Arabic texts, and make
use of the large population of multi-lingual Jewish scholars to translate the books into
something they can read. The cultural and intellectual riches flabbergast western tourists.
Compared with what they have at home, this is intellectual heaven, they can't even understand
half of it. The Christians will carry a resentful jealousy of Arab culture for centuries.
The First Crusade

1095 Pope Urban II preaches the First Crusade*. Remember that "Reconquest" idea of the
Pope's? Well, what with all that productivity and social organization, there is a surplus of the
aggressive, fighting types just dying to make war on somebody, anybody. The Byzantine
Empire* doesn't recognize the authority of Rome and it's being threatened by those nasty
Turks who took Jerusalem* [see 1071]. That jealousy, (mentioned earlier) about the terrific
cultural edge the Arabs have over the Christian West, really gnaws at the Europeans. So the
time seems just right for a religious crusade to free the Holy Land* from those uppity infidels.
Besides, think of the plunder!
1096 So all the bishops and priests everywhere start preaching the Crusade, but the most
effective is a dirty, homely little runt who comes to be known as Peter the Hermit*. It isn't
those fighting type knights that he attracts. Instead it's mostly the common people who flock
by the thousands. Under a soldier of fortune called Walter the Penniless*, the People's
Crusade* moves out of Cologne on the road to Constantinople. As usual, they pillage and
burn their way through the Christian countries as they march to Constantinople. Fortunately
for the surviving local Christians, the entire People's Crusade* is wiped out by the Turks just
south of Constantinople.
1096 - Meanwhile, back in Europe, the real fighting types put together four great divisions of
knightly armies. There's a French one from Lorraine under Godfrey de Bouillon* who starts
first. He's followed closely to Constantinople by a bunch of Normans from southern Italy and
Sicily under Bohemond of Taranto*. Immediately behind them comes the bunch from
Provence in southern France under Count Raymond IV of Toulouse*. The fourth, and biggest
bunch, comes in two parts. The smaller part is from Flanders (that place where they make all
the cloth) under Count Robert II*. The larger part is made up of English, Normans and
Bretons (northern France) under William the Conquerors.'s* son Duke Robert of Normandy*.
1097 - The combined force of around thirty-five thousand horse and foot soldiers march off to
meet the Turks. By this time they're beginning to refer to these Turks as Saracens*. With
considerable ups and downs they fight their way through Nicea, Antioch (Godfrey's younger
brother Baldwin decides to take off on his own and takes Armenia, where he stays for a while
as the prince of Edessa.)
1098 Meanwhile, back in Europe, a French monk, Robert Molesme*, leaves his own religious
order (Benedictine) to set up a new one in a poor, marshy area of Burgundian forest called
Citeaux. His order comes to be called Cistercians* The whole point is to set up abbeys 'far
from the haunts of men' on marginal land. For such a difficult task they need more help and
employ "lay" brothers who are permitted to sell their surplus. The relevance of this particular
event is that it spreads the latest and best agricultural practices among the local populations.
Another big step forward toward a productive economy.
1099 Back at the Crusades - Three years after they start, the remaining forces take
Jerusalem*. There's considerable jockeying over which of the leaders gets to rule there, and
finally Godfrey* gets the nod. He takes the title of "Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre." The
two Roberts pack up their loot to go home
1100 - and Raymond goes off in a huff to Syria to seek a kingdom of his own. Godfrey dies of
typhoid fever and his brother Baldwin takes over, becoming king of Jerusalem*.
As The Twelfth Century Begins

Economic And Intellectual Profits
11th or 12th century (although it could have been the fourth) theatre was apparently still a
going concern in the East. Plays which appear to have been performed in the Byzantine
Empire include:
Christus Paschon -* it begins: "Now in the manner of Euripides, I will the Passion tell which
saved the world." It combines some aspects of the story of Christ's death with a lot of classical
stuff. Paraphrases of Euripides' tragedies shows up in a third of the 2,640 lines. It gives us a
good example of how the Eastern Empire of Byzantium is trying to combine the classical with
Christian.
Professional actors begin to be used to play those roles in plays (about Christ's Passion) that
the townspeople don't want to play, like Satan, Judas and executioners.
1100 The most famous example of Romanesque* architecture, the cathedral at Cluny, France,
is completed. The architectural style is based on the use of the Roman (really the Etruscan)
arch.
1100's and 1200's - We find many other entertainers appearing in plays. Dancers show up in
plays that include Salome* and a tumbler is vital for productions of Le Tonbeur Notre
Dame*. The ancient puppet and marionette plays are always popular, too.
1101-1128 Now that Jerusalem* is finally in Christian hands, the knights who did it start to
get religious. They begin to found a bunch of military "Orders." The first is The Knights of
the Holy Sepulchre. These are the guys with the white surcoat and big red cross. Then there is
the Order of the Knights of St. John who are more widely known as the Hospitallers*. They
get black robes with an eight point white cross. This order specializes in providing a hospital
and hostel for pilgrims. The next order is the Templars*, who get the so-called Temple of
Solomon as their headquarters and they get to wear the same outfit as the first group. The
various orders are given huge gifts of land and money from kings and barons. They rapidly
become as wealthy as many European kings. At the start they all have strict rules that have a
lot in common with the Jomsvikings* [remember them?]. The Templars get a reputation as
really fierce fighters, but power and wealth corrupt and they soon get a reputation for
arrogance.
1104 Champagne Fairs begin. What with all that loot from the Crusade, improved
productivity with that Cistercians* agriculture, and those mills, the crossing points of trade
routes start having regular fairs. Towns, about five of them, in the region of Champagne, set
up regular fair times. Some will hold summer and winter fairs, the others May and autumn
ones. Great for trade, and probably pretty good for the entertainers. This also leads to progress
in finance, letters of credit, that kind of stuff.
1120 The earliest record of a Miracle Play* at Dunstable in England.
1120's Meanwhile back in Spain that intellectual revolution is getting started. An Englishman
from Bath named Adelard* goes to learn about astronomy and picks up a lot more. He goes
home with a translation of Euclid's* geometry and a good understanding of the new method
of thought which he writes out. Big impact on his European colleagues, this business of
rational thought and natural science. It is definitely a different approach from the authoritarian
Augustinian view.
Lots of others take off for Spain from all over Europe. Some stay in Toledo to work for
Raymond the Archbishop. He sets up a bunch of translators to cope with all the manuscripts
flowing in from the "Reconquest" in Spain. The range of sciences becoming available is mind
boggling. But even more of a bombshell is the philosophy, especially the works of our friend
Aristotle. His system of nature and the logic of argument comes complete with Arabic
commentaries to make the whole thing easier to understand. This new system provides the
intellectuals with a really usable tool for arriving at a truth. It'll make things pretty dangerous
later when these new views come up against the old Augustian head-in-the-sand thinking of
the church. Universities begin to be founded around Europe, starting with Salerno.
1127 Guillaume de Poitou* (b. 1070), one of the first troubadours whose name is known, dies.
1130's *Peter Abelard*, a Breton philosopher and the guy who has the memorable affair with
Heloise*, also picks up all that wonderful learning from Spain, and is now using the new logic
in his teaching in Paris. This will become very dangerous for his health when the Church
realizes what a can of worms this new learning can be.
1144 The beginnings of Gothic* architecture show up with the church of St. Denis outside
Paris. For the next sixty years Gothic cathedrals will rise all over Europe. This involves the
pointed arch so widely used by the Arabs.
The Second Crusade
Theatre Is Showing Up In The Church
1146 The Turks have taken back Edessa, slaughtering the Christian inhabitants, so it's
obviously time for another crusade. Bernard of Clairvaux* (later known as St. Bernard)
preaches the Second Crusade*. This time it is supposed to be a penance for sins and not an
opportunity for plunder. [That won't fly.]
1148 The French and German forces marching to Damascus* bog down arguing over who
will get what loot, lose most of their men, and give the whole thing up an go home.
c. 1150 - Jeu d'Adam* (The Play of Adam) is the oldest extant play in French. Later known as
The Mystery of Adam* it is written by Arnoul Grebau*. This play deals with the mystery of
the passion of Christ and covers events from Adam through Pentecost. With over 35,000
lines, it takes four days to perform outdoors. Here we finally get a surviving text of a
religious play that appears, from the stage directions, to have been produced outside a
cathedral for a larger public.
The play contains three main parts 1- ADAM AND EVE
2- CAIN AND ABEL
3- PROPHET'S PLAY (foretelling coming of Christ)

The dialog is in French but the stage directions and songs are in Latin. In part 3
the dialog has the scriptural part in Latin followed by paraphrasing that dialog
in French.
Most Passion plays are not given every year (some every second year, some
not for ten years.) All plays use music. Admission is not usually
charged although some places have special seats for hire.
Almost all of the other religious dramas (we know of something over 400, all very short, no
more than 200 lines) seem to have been performed in the monasteries and inside the
cathedrals for Easter. They are various enlargements on the Trope*. Only three deal with the
crucifixion: two are in the Carmina Burana ( a collection of plays and poems from a
monastery in Germany) and one from this same date from Italy (about 320 lines long.) There
are also a number of plays dealing with the Christmas season, mainly the Three Kings* and
the Prophets Play*. Gradually the number, length and variety of subject matter increase. Other
biblical events are dramatized. The longest and most complex is the Antichrist which is so full
of diverse and elaborate scenes that it was probably a bardic performance piece and was not
dramatized at all.
Production techniques in Medieval religious drama - (as we move outdoors, but still being
performed by clergy, and occasionally with choir boys.) Costumes: which start out as church
vestments, gradually pick up additions, like wings for angels. Soon, characters begin to have
more elaborate costumes for such roles as the Wise Men (Three Kings.)
Props: as the plays expand to subjects beyond the Trope they begin to include the objects
needed as symbols (the dove) and for practical identification of the characters (gifts from the
Three Kings,) and, when lives of Saints are enacted, furniture and other objects.
Scenery: There is little attempt made to be elaborate in setting the scene until the plays pass
in to hands of laymen.
1152 Frederick I Barbarossa* becomes king (in Germany). Henry (see below) marries Eleanor
of Aquitaine*
1154 Henry II* (the one who married Eleanor) comes to the English throne and the
Plantagenent line begins. He lays the foundations for English Common Law.
1158 Frederick I Barbarossa* issues a decree founding a protestant (that means non-religious
at this point in time) university in Bologna*. This city has a tradition as a Roman municipality
and escaps the grip of feudalism that plagues the rest of Europe. It has been republican for
centuries and has a healthy independence of thought. The University of Bologna is the world's
first really non-religious university, an educational institution free from rule of the church. It
is under the protection of the emperor, free from papal interference, and situated in a
republican, commercial city. It will attract students from all over. The University of Bologna
immediately develops a reputation for legal instruction and starts the fastest growing of
medieval professions, the lawyer. It is run by the students, who hire the teachers and set the
rules.* The Arts faculty become controversial because they are most strongly influenced by
all that new knowledge coming out of Spain.
1160 - What with all that crusading and the end of the century looming on the horizon, there's
a lot of interest in Jerusalem* and the millennia. Well, there's a lot about that in Revelations*,
and somewhere over in Germany there is a terrific play called The Antichrist (performed in
Latin by clerics.) The first part is all about that local celebrity Barbarossa* and the second part
deals with the Antichrist and fighting him.
1163 Notre Dame* is built.
1167 Frederick I Barbarossa* is crowned Holy Roman Emperor*.
University is founded.
In England, Oxford
1170 Thomas a Becket*, Henry II's* Archbishop of Canterbury, is murdered by four of

Henry's Norman knights. This really gets Henry* into hot water with the Pope and the church.
c.1170 - Plays are being performed in England that deal with the lives of Saints (religious
chivalric knights.)
1171 In Egypt the Kurdish Ayyubids* depose the ruling Fatimid rulers and start their own
dynasty under Saladin*. They will extend their rule to Syria, Yemen and part of Iraq. They are
Sunni* and consequently have lots of problems with the Shiite* remnants of the Fatimids.
There is also a really extreme bunch called the Assassins* who run around terrorizing
everybody. In order to keep things running smoothly they (the new rulers) make use of slavewarriors. Saladin replaces his African troops with Turks. These Turkish slave-warriors are
called Mamluks* (meaning "something that is possessed".) They are captured, mainly from
the Turkish Kipchak tribe (Crimea and southern Russian steppes.) These men are prized as
terrific fighters with horse and short bow. They are converted to Islam, taught to read, write,
and speak Arabic and can rise to be army commanders. The point of all this is that these
Mamluks will take over the kingdom later and give the Europeans a lot of trouble.
1180 Philip II* comes to the throne of France. He reorganizes France and it begins to be the
dominant power. We also hear of the first European references to a needle that points north. It
will take a while to develop this into a workable compass and improve navigation.
The Third Crusade
The One We All Remember
1183 The Moslems have this new leader, Saladin*, as Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He tricks the
Christians into breaking the truce which provides him with a good excuse to push the
Christians out of Palestine. He does a pretty good job. Taking the fortress cities, one by one,
he 1187 finally captures Jerusalem.* He turns out to be a lot more chivalrous than his
opponents. As the Christian knights come into more and more contact with Saladin,* the
European notion of Chivalry develops. Nobody in Europe needs to be told that it is time for
the Third Crusade*. When the news of the fall of Jerusalem* reaches Europe everybody starts
getting ready to move again.
1189 Richard I* (the Lionheart) comes to the English throne, takes all the cash he can lay his
hands on, and heads off for the Crusade leaving his brother John* in charge at home. [This is
the time of all that "Robin Hood" stuff.]
1190 Everybody starts off for the Third Crusade*, Richard* leading the English (and knights
from all his French possessions), Philip* leading the rest of the French, and Frederick (who
drowns on the way and his army disappears) leading the German forces.
The Feast of the Boy Bishop - (the Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28) is another
festival given over, in this case, to the choir boys. It includes activities similar to the Feast of
Fools.
1190's - The Feast of Fools (the Feast of the Circumcision, January 1, or 6, or 13) is one of the
feast days given over to some of the lesser clergy, in this case to the subdeacons. The clergy
use the occasion to ridicule their superiors and the routine of church life. It is an opportunity
for comedy and farce and no doubt makes use of earlier pagan practices. The Festival is
presided over by a "bishop fool" who has ecclesiastical authority during the festival.
Sometimes plays are staged as part of the festivities and they also are comic.
1191 The crusaders take back Acre* and Philip* goes home sick, leaving Richard* in charge
of the whole shooting match. It's now a contest between Richard* and Saladin* and neither
one wins.
1192 The stalemate ends in a five year truce and Saladin* still in firm possession of
Jerusalem*. So much for that Crusade. On his way home Richard* is taken hostage by Duke
Leopold of Austria* and held for ransom for two years. Leading, of course, to the familiar
tales of Robin Hood, etc.
1194 The Scandinavian mythology collection Elder Edda* appears.
1194 - At Regensburg on the Danube there is a performance of a Prophet Play*.
1197 A Cistercian* abbot named Berthold* is invested as Bishop of Livonia (Latvia). When
he is unable to convert the pagan population he goes back to Germany and recruits a crusader
army.
1198 Pope Innocent III* becomes the new Pope and speaks of the need for a Holy War. The
Teutonic Knights*, (who seem to share that Roman military "Divine Missionary" attitude, at
least their dominant motive is redemption through battle) are founded by the German
Crusaders to the Holy Land. Their headquarters is in Palestine at Acre. Like other military
orders, they grow rapidly in power, wealth and prestige. They have the patronage of the Holy
Roman Emperor (who is also German) and the Pope. They get land in Italy, Greece, Germany
and Palestine from the Emperor and privileges from the Pope.
Meanwhile, in northeastern Europe (Latvia, actually,) the Livonian Bishop, Albert of
Buxtehude, gets a papal OK to have a crusade of his own, up in his part of Eastern Europe,
against the pagan Livs. That doesn't work too well because the crusaders come just for the
summer and go home in the winter.
1199 On the death of Richard*, John Lackland* becomes king of England. The Pope's
representatives are preaching a Holy War. That busy fair district of Champagne is holding a
jousting tourney when the Holy War is preached as part of the event. All the knights at the
jousting think this Holy War business is just the thing, so they join up and the word spreads.
late 1100's - We find La Seinte Resurrection, an Anglo-Norman play

More Crusades And A Small Renaissance
As We Go Into The Thirteenth Century
The Thirteenth Century is marked by the appearance of new towns and cities based on
commerce. The Low Countries industrialize (in a modest way) and the Friesians* are noted
for their wool. By the start of the century there are thirty Cistercian* [remember? that really
productive order?] houses all over Europe. Each monastic house is a medieval factory. They
are Europe's best land managers. When they lease land it comes with strict instructions and
rules on how best to farm it. They open warehouses and finance offices in major sea ports,
becoming famous for their wool.
Paris has a religion-centered University where a student takes six years of Arts and four years
of theology.
In 1200 - The church reaches the peak of its power.
c. 1200 - There is now a Confrerie de Jongleurs.* ( a brotherhoof of composing and
performing minstrels) and one of their members, a Jean Bodel* (crusader, town official and
author) writes the St. Nicholas Play* full of crusader battles and tavern scenes.
1200-1350 - In all European countries it's a time of gradual transition in the writing of
religious drama. Plays in the venacular (the local language) gradually replace those in
liturgical Latin (which the clergy use and none of the locals can understand.)
This change is accompanied by another transition. Inside the church the dramatizations are
done by the clergy as part of the mass. As the plays begin to move out of the church on to the
porch and finally into the open square, laymen begin to be entrusted with acting roles. Finally,
as the competition increases to do a better job, they actually hire professional actors for the
big parts. Legend, Parable, and Miracle Plays as well as the great Mystery and Last
Judgement Plays all are really concerned with this dying business and they all draw heavily
on the contrast between redemption and damnation.
1201-2 Off to the Crusades - The 30,000 or so would-be crusaders assemble in Venice with
plans to attack the Saracens by way of Egypt. They figure its easier to get there by sea than to
take that terrible land trip through Constantinople.
The Doge (leader of the Venetians) wants a ton of money (85,000 pieces of silver) to provide
ocean-going transportation and the Crusaders can't meet the price. The Doge really has a
hidden agenda. He wants to punish Constantinople for refusing a trade agreement. So, he
persuades the Crusaders to go east by land, instead of south by sea, and persuades them to
capture the port of Zara on the Adriatic coast of Dalmatia. This, he claims, will be acceptable
as security for the needed money.
1202 So the Fourth Crusade* starts by sacking a Christian city to line the pockets of the
merchants of Venice. As you might suspect, this does not make the Pope happy. The Doge
further suggests that the Crusaders should capture Constantinople and unite the Byzantine*
Empire with the rest of Christendom. He even offers to foot the bill. This seems like a terrific
idea to church and greedy nobles alike, a united church and the best plunder around. What
more could you want?
Meanwhile that beleaguered Bishop Albert in Livonia (Latvia) gets papal approval to
establish a military order to be based there. It is officially called: "Brothers of Christ's
Militia." Soon they come to be known as "The Sword Brothers*." These guys are recruited
from just about anybody and they get a lousy reputation. They are known for their dubious
morals, but they are terrific fighters.
Down in Egypt those equally terrific Turkish slave-warriors, the Mamluks*, have risen to be
the elite guard, called Bahris* because they are garrisoned on an island in the Nile, Bahr alNil, outside Cairo.
1203 Off to the East, a tough little Mongol named Temujin* (soon to be known as Genghis
Khan* has united the Mongolian tribes and is in control of central and eastern Mongolia.
We'll hear more from him later.
1203 Off to Constantinople where, with a little fighting and a lot of conniving, the Crusaders
get Emperor Alexius IV* (nephew of the former deposed emperor) put on the throne. He
signs an agreement to finance the crusade. But then, the whole Byzantine intrigue falls apart.
1204 The Greeks (who are the military power in Constantinople) start open war with the
invading Crusaders. The Crusaders sack, loot and burn the city, splitting the plunder between
the Venetians and the Frankish Crusaders. They set up a puppet Frankish emperor of what
they call the Latin Empire*. [This bogus "empire" will hang on about 57 years and then
collapse.] The Crusaders never crusade, the Saracens get stronger, the greedy conquerors split
up into bitter, quarreling factions. Only the greedy merchants win. A significant side-light is
that the Italians take home some terrific cultural treasures and their contact with the East helps
push the revival in classical learning and art.
1206 The Mongols under Genghis Khan* begin their conquests, starting with parts of China.
Genghis is a whiz at administration and a good lawmaker. He creates order out of chaos and
establishes a new pyramid of power based on a full time corp of nomadic hunters who earn
promotion by merit. He divides them into military style units (100, 1,000 and 10,000) with his
own elite corps of 10,000. Since the Mongols are nomadic and not encumbered by material
possessions, they can move like lightning.
The Mongols are an interesting bunch who elect their leader democratically. This often puts a
crimp in their fighting, because they have to drop everything and go home to vote whenever
the current "great khan" dies off. They have the military advantage of using stirrups (which
are just now showing up in the west) which enables them to stand up and shoot their bows
while riding at full gallop.
Back in Latvia, the Sword Brothers* take all of Livonia and start looking north for something
more to conquer.
1210 Remember all that Aristotelian stuff pouring out of Spain? Well, the trouble with the
Church starts, and the teaching of Aristotle* is banned in Paris. The new knowledge is
becoming dangerous to the authority of the church.
One of the other fun things people do, ever since that Crusade business got possession of
Jerusalem, is that they go on a pilgrimage. There are three exciting places to go to do the
shrines, look at the relics, and pick up a few religious souvenirs, plus get cured of any dire
diseases you might have. The best place is Jerusalem, but that's a long trip and often
somebody is doing a massacre there. Next best is Rome, but that's fairly far, too, and very
expensive. The third place is way out on the western edge of Spain, a place called
Compostela. It is the spot that claims to have the tomb of Saint James the Apostle (Santiago in
the Spanish.) Apparently he is supposed to have traveled there from Jerusalem to preach the
Gospel. His remains are supposed to have the power to slay Moslems (which is handy in
Spain) and cure disease. Anyhow, this place has been really popular all through the twelfth
century. It figures prominently in the medieval tour guides (yes, there really are some, full of
practical advice and directions.)
1211 Those Teutonic Knights* get involved in eastern Europe when the King of Hungary
invites them up there to help defend against some central Asian Cumans. They come and set
up an independent state, bringing in German farmers to colonize the territory.
1212 The Children's Crusade*, a real embarrassment to the church, is raised by a revivalist
type French boy. Thousands of young boys march to the French port of Marseilles where they
expect the waters to part so they can walk to the Holy Land. The waters don't and most of the
children are sold by merchants into slavery.
1215 In England, King John* is badgered by his powerful barons to share some of his power.
They force him to set his seal on the Magna Carta* at Runnymede*, laying the ground work
for a future democratic society. At the moment it mainly empowers the barons and cuts into
the rights of the king.
Frederick II* grandson of Frederick I Barbarossa* is crowned Holy Roman Emperor*. He is a
spectacular ruler, creating a rigid framework of law and administration,
1217 Back in Asia Genghis Khan* is subduing Khwarizm a Turkish dominated empire
including Turkestan, Persia, most of Afghanistan and part of northern India. He is traveling
with 200,000 men and 10,000 siege engines from China. In three years he kills millions. The
Mongol atrocities are legendary. He pushes to the Caspian Sea, drives north through the
Georgians, the Kipchak Turks of the Volga steppes, and the Bulgars of the upper Volga.
1218 The Fifth Crusade* is another abortive attempt to get to Jerusalem through Egypt.
Meanwhile Genghis Khan* is conquering the rest of Persia.
1219 On the university front - a system of degrees and their requirements is up and running in
Paris.
1223 Genghis Khan* is entrenched in the Ukraine and Crimea.
1224 So are the Teutonic Knights* and the King of Hungary has to expel them by force. But
that's OK because a Polish Duke asks them to come up there and tame the Prussians. They
(the Poles), too, offer them (the Teutonic Knights) a province and whatever they can conquer.
Meanwhile in Germany, Frederick II* is creating a trained civil service and down in Naples, a
University free of monastic and clerical control. He is interested in culture too, and his court
is the birthplace of Italian as a literary language. He wants to bring the "Lombard League," (a
collection of independent Italian cities,) under his control. They don't want to. He gets the
Pope to make them do it in return for his agreeing to lead another Crusade.
1225 A story of courtly love appears in the well-known Roman de la Rose (The Romance of
the Rose) by Guillaume de Lorris*.
Cotton is manufactured in Spain.
1227 Genghis Khan* dies and all the Mongol leaders go home to vote on a new leader, so
there is a brief respite and a break in their headlong advancement towards Europe.
1228 The Sixth Crusade* is led by the Holy Roman Emperor*, Frederick II of Germany. He
isn't too interested in fighting and instead wangles a treaty getting the surrender of several
cities, including Jerusalem*, plus a corridor to the sea and all prisoners freed. It's a ten year
treaty and nobody likes it.
1229 A new great khan is elected and the Mongols under Ogedei resume conquests of Korea,
southern China, northeast Persia, northern Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
1230 Among the plunder brought home by the Crusaders, there is also disease. At this time,
leprosy is introduced into Europe. Frederick II* puts together the Constitutions of Melfi, the
first comprehensive legal code seen in Europe since Justinian. Frederick II* stands at the peak
of the feudal pyramid, rivaling the Pope for top place.
1235 - What with all these crusades there's lots of interest in this crusading business back
home. In Germany there is a Magdeburg Pentecost Play called The Roundtable, including lots
of knights and minstrels doing their things.
1236 The Mongols* turn to eastern Europe with 150,000 men. They sweep through the
Bulgars in middle Volga and Cumens in the southern steppes. The Teutonic Knights* have
managed to take over all of Prussia and beyond. The Sword Brothers* have added more
territory to their original Latvian holdings, but they are eventually absorbed into the Teutonic
Knights*.
1236 - There is an example of another kind of entertainment, the Royal entry* and Street
Pageant. These are given by municipalities in honor of coronations, royal weddings, national
victories and for visiting royalty. By this date we find plays being added to these events.
1237 The Mongols* continue invading Christian Russia, overwhelming Rostov, Moscow and
Vladimir.
1238 The truce in Palestine ends and everybody fights everybody else for years.
1240 The Pope gets pretty excited about things up in Russia what with the pagans, the
Christians, and now the Mongols. He calls for a crusade against the Russians of Novgorod*.
But the Mongols* are busy destroying Kiev and defeating the Polish.
1241 The Mongols* devastate Moravia, Silesia and turn south into Hungary. The Baltic
Crusade* is under way but they get sidetracked by fighting the Mongols*. This is a lousy
idea, they get decimated, but fortunately the Mongols have to quit (Ogedei dies) and go home
for another election.
1242 When the Baltic Crusade gets going against Novgorod* the crusaders loose. This
encourages the Prussians and they rebel against their crusader lords (those Teutonic
Knights*.) It takes seven years to put the rebellion down. This is the beginning of thirty years
of war. Meanwhile a grandson of Genghis Khan establishes the Golden Horde* of Mongol*
warriors on the lower Volga.
1244 *The Khwarizmian Turks (The Egyptian Turks keep taking new pagan Turks for their
army and they fight with all the zeal of new converts, these particular ones are from a
different and more ferocious tribe) sweep into Jerusalem* and leave it in ruins. The Christians
lose Jerusalem* for good. The news spreads back to France and another Crusade is planned,
this one under Louis IX*, King of France (later to be known as St. Louis*.
1245 This is the first recorded European exploration of Asia.
1249 The Seventh Crusade*, under Louis arrives in Egypt (the idea is to attack the Saracens at
their home in Cairo*.) [There is a terrific account of this Crusade by one of the French
participants, John of Joinville*, who keeps a journal.]
The University College, Oxford* is founded.
1250 There is a lot of fighting, then a stalemate, then the usual diseases of a military camp.
Everybody gets sick. The entire army, including Louis,* are taken prisoner. Much ransom is
paid and most of the Crusaders sail for home, but Louis* stays. He spends four years trying to
build up what remains of the Christian territorial holdings. Frederick II* dies and the imperial
crown passes to the Hapsburgs*.
The Small Renaissance Part of the Century
Craft Guilds* become stronger and more widespread. Production increases and literary,
musical and artistic activities thrive. Individual artists start putting their name to their works.
1250 - German drama begins to be visible with the Easter Play of Muri*.
1252 The Inquisition (which has been around for a while) begins to use instruments of torture.
This institution will really get up and running later. The avowed purpose is to identify and
punish heresy.
1250's During this decade the Mongols* destroy Bagdad* and kill the Caliph of Islam.
1254 Louis* returns to France.
1255 The church finally gives in and permits all Aristotelian work into the curriculum of
universities.
1258 Mongols* take Bagdad and overthrow the caliphate. This puts another big dent in the
remains of the Islamic Empire.
The House of Commons is established in England, giving some measure of power to the
commoner people.
The Mongols* are about to attack Egypt when their current Khan dies and most of them troop
home for the election giving the Arabs a breathing space.
1259 In Egypt the Mamluks* finally seize the throne of Egypt
1260 and when the Mongols* threaten the eastern borders (with their depleted forces) the
Mamluks* rout them. This ruins the Mongol reputation for invincibility and stops their
western movement.
Back home the Mongols* have elected Kublai Khan* as their leader. The Mongol* Empire
begins to fall into separate pieces while the main group takes over all of China*. In Persia the
Mongol* Ilkhans rule; in Sari on the Volga the Golden Horde* controls the Kipchak Khanate;
most of Russia is ruled by the Mongol* Batu; and in Samarkand the Mongol* Chagatai rule
the central Asian steppes as the Chagtai Khanate*. So now, the Mongolian hordes are settling
in and contributing to the gene pool of a whole bunch of different places.
1261 - In Italy, a Confraternita* produces a splendidly staged sacra rapprasentatione* (sacred
representation) at Treviso.
c. 1261 More saint plays appear in France, Miracle of Theophile*, by Rutebeuf* , as well as
plays about St. Catherine and St. Paul. All these plays center around miracles and later there
will be a category of Miracle Plays*.
1262 - That prolific author Adam de la Halle* comes up with an interesting work called Jeu
de la Feuille* which may be the earliest secular work we have, a play with music, the first
French "operette." *One of the things that is interesting about it is his use of characters that
seem to owe their origins to pagan demon cults (although they also would be right at home in
an Etruscan* farce.) These characters have been used by the populace when they have
celebrations in which an army of damned souls, or souls of the dead, go screaming in a wild
chase all over town. They wear animal masks (particularly asses ears), loud bells, etc. In
plays, these demons and devils show up in many forms but the chief one is the character of
the chief devil called Herlequin, who will grow into the stock Commedia dell'Arte* character
of Arlecchino*. Later yet, he will be known as Harlequin.
1264 - In Rome there are organizations of Actor's fraternities* called the Lord's Minstrels*.
1264 Thomas Aquinas* writes Summa Contra Gentiles (in philosophy and theology)
reconciling the dual modes of thought (St. Augustine* and Aristotle*) into a double standard
and splits philosophy off from theology. He will be putting out more writings for another ten
years.
Roger Bacon* (philosopher) writes De Computo Naturali.
All this philosophy business is helping lay the ground work for breaking the church's
intellectual monopoly.
1264 The Feast of Corpus Christi* is inaugurated. It is a part of the new interest in the life of
this world (going along with the new cult of the Eucharist, the elevation of the Host and the
dogma of transubstantiation.) This will provide one of the biggest theatrical opportunities in
the coming centuries.
THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE SPACE IN CHURCH DRAMA The dramatic interludes in the liturgy move out of the church and onto the porch where they
begin to be public plays. There are two areas involved in the stage delineation of the
performance space:
First - the mansions*, seales, loci, or domi - these are small structures
establishing the location of the scenes Second - the platea* or place - this is a neutral open space adjoining the
mansion with as much room as the actors need for their action.
There are as many mansions as needed for the dramatization and the actors
move into and out of the platea when they want to establish a new locale.
1264 - Remember those Roman triumphs, with all the booty paraded along the streets in
elaborate wagons? Well, now that cities are getting bigger, they need a lot of mansions for
their plays. They start using Wagons* in the Corpus Christi* productions when they want to
bring the show to the audience, instead of the audience to the show. These wagons (or carts)
show up now in Spain, for the auto sacremental*, where a platform (called a roca) is carried
around by a bunch of men. These are soon put on wagons (called carro*). The thing carries a
tableau (a bunch of people in a pose) and when it's set down, or stops moving, the tableau
swings into action and the play begins. This will remain the done thing in Spain for centuries.
This wagon business is popular in England as well. More about these later as they become
more sophisticated and widespread.
1266 Over in China* Kublai Khan* receives two Venetian merchants, Niccolo and Matteo
Polo.
1270 Louis* dies on an expedition to Africa to bring Christianity to Tunis. With his death, the
heart goes out of the crusading business and the Age of Great Crusades is over.
1271 Marco Polo*, a merchant from Italy ( relative of the earlier Polos), journeys to China.
1272 In England Edward I* becomes king.
1274 In China Kublai Khan* tries to conquer Japan and fails.
1275 Marco Polo* stays on in the service of Kublai Khan* in China for 17 years and writes A
Description of the World..
1276 In Spain, the King of Castile and Leon, Alfonso the Wise*,sets up a school to translate
Arab texts into Latin. He also updates star tables and produces Alfonsine tables which will
provide the astronomical standards for the next three hundred years. This stuff is vital for
calendars and navigation.
c. 1276 - The earliest known secular play The Play of The Greenwood* by Adam de la
Halle*, appears. It deals with peasants and supernatural events.
1277 Roger Bacon* imprisoned for heresy. The viewpoint of the church is that understanding
can come only through belief. The new view, (and Bacon's view), is that belief can come only
through understanding. Obviously the church is going to have problems with this new view.
1280 Technological advances appear, the spinning wheel, and a paper mill in Italy.
Albertus Magnus*, a German philosopher and scientist dies. He is later associated with
alchemy and magic.
1283 The Teutonic Knights* finish subjugating Prussia. From here on out it is their territory
and they are based there.
c. 1283 - Adam de la Halle comes up with another secular play, The Play of Robin and
Marion*.
1284 This is the time of the "Pied Piper of Hamelin."
1290 Now that the Teutonic Knights* have things under control, the colonization of Prussia
begins by German colonists from northern Germany. The Knights carry on a large and
lucrative trade. They have their own fleet in the Baltic. Also, they are very firm about
Christian rule for Christian subjects, the rule is no Jews. [We will find these teutonic views
reappearing at regular intervals, culminating in the wars of the 20th century.]
In the late 1200's we find the earliest example of a type of drama peculiar to the Low
Countries. It's called the Chambers of Rhetoric*. The first one we know of is the Flemish The
Boy and the Blind Man*. These start spreading in the 1300's as societies concerned with
poetry, music and drama. They specialize in allegorical drama.
1291 More technological advances, this time it is a terrific advance for scholars, a leap
forward in optics, spectacles (reading glasses) become available.
The Teutonic knights abandon their old stronghold of Holyband and move their activities to
the Baltic where they exterminate the heathen Slavs and replace them with god-fearing
German farmers.
1297 The Teutonic Knights* are battling the Rigans and those guys ask help from the
Lithuanians.
1298 Louis* is canonized as St. Louis*.
1298 - Plays are given as part of the victory pageant celebrating Edward I*'s victory over the
Scots. These are usually allegorical or historical and are done in pantomime* including
tableaux vivants* (living tableaus.)
1299 In that argument between the Teutonic Knights* and the Rigans, the Pope judges the
dispute. He declares the Teutonic Knights* guilty of barbarous acts (this will remain typical
of these guys and their descendants).
The Little Ice Age Begins

The Fourteenth Century
And We Come To The Down Part Of The Late Middle Ages
Starting with a period of uncertain weather, a global cooling sets in. Rains and unseasonable
frosts bring on a decline in harvests and then total crop failures. There is wide spread famine
and progressively colder weather. The Viking outposts in Greenland freeze to death and will
not be resettled. By the middle of the century, plague will follow famine until, by the end of
the century, the population of Europe will be only half what it was at the start.
If the plague and the weather aren't enough, cannons come to be in wide use during this
century.
Weather Gets Colder and the Arts Take Off
1300 Population is high and there is a temporary end to the European slave trade.
1300 - Those terrific tournaments the knights used to have to keep them sharp for the crusades
are becoming more and more pure entertainment. They start having dramatic elements
including elaborate processions and dramatic interludes in the evenings.
c. 1300 - Religious guilds and confraternities appear around Europe. They are by and large
made up of laymen with some clergy. In northern England these are the craft guilds. When
they produce the religious plays the church must still OK the scripts.
Professional musical entertainers called Jongleurs appear in France.
1303 The Pope is again called to judge the Teutonic Knights* and again he claims they are
guilty.
1305 The Italian painter, Giotto*, paints frescoes in Padua.
Philip IV* of France is real chummy with Pope Clement V* Philip* wants to abolish all those
powerful military orders and start up one of his own.
1305- The Pope* is taken over by the French and moves to Avignon.
1307 Dante* composes his Divine Commedia.
Philip IV* arrests all the Templars* in his realm and tries them for heresy.
1308 Philip IV* also persuades his chum, the Pope, to authorize the arrest and trial of all the
Templars* throughout Europe. The Pope* does. Philip* does, and many Templars* are
condemned and burned.
1309 The Teutonic Knights* get the message and move their headquarters from Venice to
Marrienburg castle in Prussia*, beyond Philip's* reach. They expand their territory in the
Baltic (Pomerelia and Danzig) and carry on a running fight with Poland and Lithuania. What
with the end of the Crusades to the Holy Land, and all that trouble with Philip* in Europe,
adventurous nobles flock to the Baltic Crusade*.
1311 Official sanction is finally given to the Corpus Christi Festival* and it's soon celebrated
almost everywhere. The date is the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, varying from May 23
to June 24.
The Corpus Christi Festival* is established in an effort to make the church
more relevant to the ordinary man and his life. Its theme (the redemptive
power of communion) is one that can draw plots from all biblical events.
Eventually a cosmic drama (which covers events from the creation to the
destruction of the world) comes to be acted as the main part of the festival.
More importantly other groups (besides the clergy) are given roles in the
celebrations (nobles, merchants and craftsmen.) Not all plays are associated
with this festival. Other celebrations when plays are done include Easter,
Whitsuntide (seven weeks after Easter,) feast days of the patron saint of a
particular city, and special occasions such as gratitude for deliverance from
plague, etc.
1311 - From this date on there are Corpus Christi festivals* in England.
1313 The problem of producing copies of documents leads to metal type casting (for printing)
which first shows up in the East (probably Korea.)
1313 - The first clear record of plays done for the French Street Pageant celebration honoring
Edward II*'s visit.
1314 The historic defeat of the English by the Scots at Bannockburn* where William Wallace
and Robert Bruce gain fame.
Now that there is very little crusading going on, the military religious orders are really in
trouble, and in France the Grand Marshal of the Templars is burned at the stake for heresy.
1315 A silk industry starts up in Lyon by Italian immigrants.
1332 The bubonic plague* starts showing up in India.
1336 - Down in Milan, Italy, Dominican monks are using that wagon stage business for their
Magi Play*.
1337 The Hundred Years' War* between England and France begins.
The Black Death* Comes To Europe
1347 A ship from the Black Sea docks in Messina (Italy) carrying the plague from the East.
And, what a plague it is! Within twenty-four hours of infection and the first tell-tale black
pustule, the victim is dead.
The plague* is carried by fleas on the black rat and comes in two forms: pneumonic (striking
the lungs and always fatal) and the more familiar bubonic, (from which some recover) causing
large black pustules which leads to the name Black Death*. It begins its European journey in
Italy and surges north leaving towns depopulated with no one left to bury the dead. In the
countryside, stock animals die of hunger and disease as their owners succumb to the plague.
Fields go to waste. In some places, like Germany, as much as sixty percent of the land falls
out of cultivation. Many places it isn't safe to travel at all, travelers' inns close down, and
being out is dangerous. It seems like the end of the world.
For years after the plague, a new image of the "dance of death" prevades art as a haunting
memory of that time. It takes three centuries for the population to regain the level it had
before the plague struck.
The plague changes everything. First there is a terrific sense of joy for those who are still
alive. The survivors find themselves incredibly wealthy, having inherited everything the dead
no longer need. They go on a gigantic spending binge. But, without a productive base, the
price of everything goes up. The status of the remaining labor pool is totally changed. Half the
workforce is gone and labor is desperately needed. The old system of being tied to your
father's job is definitely out. Serfs are no longer bound to the land and farm-workers can set
their own terms.
Authority breaks down and political uprisings crop up all over. Radical reformers spring up
and have to be coped with. Workers have the upper hand and they try to make the best deal
they can. Industrial productivity is at a premium and a real push for more technology gets
under way.
1348 The Italian writer Boccaccio* (who sensibly retreats to an isolated place while the
plague is around) comes out with his Decameeon*, a brilliant effort to deal with life among
the dying.
*1350 - Despite the plague, a two-day Passion Play* is performed in the free city of Frankfur
am Main in Germany. There is an extant copy of the director's scroll with all the stage
directions. This kind of document really helps us figure out what these plays looked like. The
German plays are full of robust sensuality and sturdy piety.
1350 The plague reaches Stockholm, and has largely run its course on the continent.
Somewhere around seventy-five million people die of the plague. Many more die of hunger
and the violence caused by social disruption. All in all, at least one-third, and more likely,
one-half of the European population perishes.
Til Eulenspiegel*, a popular figure in Germany, dies. He will become an even more popular
character in story and plays.
In Florence the city begins to tax church property and stop it from increasing. They bring the
religious orders under state control
After the plague wealthy merchants like to behave like the nobility. They employ their own
troupes of performers. When the troupe belongs to a king or a great lord they are permitted to
go on tour (when they're not needed at home.) They get special letters that identify them as
servants of the king (or whatever) which enables them to be legal anywhere (that "masterless
man" business is now a thing of the past, but you still have to prove that you are not a
"vagabond").
1350 - In Germany, for the intellectuals, there are Abelespele*, learned dramatic productions.
In China, the famous Chinese play, The Chalk Circle* is written by Li Hsing Tao.
1351 In Italy Petrarch* writes his autobiography, Epistle To Posterity.
1361 The Black Death reappears in England.
1368 Out in China, an uprising leads to the end of Mongol* rule and the beginning of the
Ming* dynasty. Other Mongol* empires also fall apart, except in central Asia and Russia.
1369 Chaucer* writes his first book.
Out in central Asia, a Mongol* soldier seizes power in Samarkand and gains authority over
both the Changatai and the Golden Horde*. His name is Timur the Lame, better known as
Tamerlane*. He will come to be known throughout Europe as the scourge of all central and
western Asia.
1370 The steel crossbow comes into general use as a weapon of war. Tough on all those
knights, since it will pierce armor.
1371 In Spain Jews are required to wear a yellow patch over their hearts identifying them.
Since they are a prosperous and powerful minority they arouse a lot of envy and jealousy.
Anti-Semitic hysteria frequently breaks out in parts of Spain.
1375 - Earliest reference to that most popular of English cycle plays*, The Second Shepherd's
Play.
by 1375 In the British Isles there are at least 125 different towns which produce plays.
Although only twelve are known as producing the Corpus Christi cosmic dramas. There are
four locations from which we have extant Cycle
texts:
Chester (24 plays)
York (48 plays)
Wakefield (32 plays) also called Towneley plays
Ludas Coventriae or N[LN Length:0.8 in] plays (42 plays)
In addition to the Cycle plays there are at least ten other British dramas in English and three in
Cornish which survive.
The craft Guilds finance their own productions and every craft takes part. The ship builders
do Noah, the goldsmiths, the Magi, the drapers do the Prophets [it's what you might call the
earliest commercial advertising productions]. Each play is staged on its own wagon but there
is an empty platea * wagon that pulls up to the one with the set on it so that the actors have
room to act their show. The wagons seem to be about ten feet by twenty feet in size.
The wagons apparently move through the town (with the actors in tableaus until it stops) to
different points in the city where they play in sequence until each location has seen all the
plays. If any craft gives a bad show it's fined. The texts are always being revised and adapted
to accommodate the new performers. There is terrific rivalry among the guilds to come up
with the best show and the biggest effects, so each one often added stuff on their own. A lot
more plays survive in France than anywhere else. These plays range from very short to cycles
requiring more than twenty-five days to perform. Most of the Cycle plays don't cover the
whole Bible (like the British, which do) but end with the resurrection of Christ.
*1377 - The first record of court entertainment Disguisings* with elaborate scenery and
effects occurs when Charles V* of France entertains Emperor Charles IV*.
1378 - We hear from that heretical John Wyclif* and he refers to a play entitled Play of the
Lord's Prayer* being performed in Yorkshire.
1378- The church is in disarray with two popes, one in Rome and another in 1417 Avignon,
France. The Pope is captive of the French. There are rival Popes and nobody knows who the
right one is.
1380 Timur* (the current Mongol) begins a long series of successful campaigns into Persia,
Georgia, Russia and points west.
1382 An early protestant, John Wyclif* tries to reform the English church but his doctrines
are condemned and he is expelled from Oxford.
1386 Up in northern Europe the downfall of the Teutonic Knights* begins. Poland and
Lithuania make a dynastic union and develop a good force to bring against the knights.
1387 Canterbury Tales by Chaucer* appears on the scene.
by 1390's most prosperous cities in Europe have lengthy religious cycles (in their local
language,) made up of many short plays.
1390 Those heretical, protestant writings by Wyclif reach Bohemia (in Czechoslovakia)
where they make exciting and stimulating reading, especially to a theologian named Jan Hus*.
1391 A series of massacres of Jews rage through the largest cities in Spain.
1396 A great crusading Christian army is decimated by the Turks at Nicopolis on the Black
Sea and the flower of western aristocracy is slaughtered. The Byzantine Emperor sends an
academic Manuel Chrysoloras* to the west for help. The Pope won't give any (he wants to get
rid of the competition in the East.) Most of the group goes home but Chrysoloras* gets an
offer of the Chair in Greek at Florence University and so he stays.
1397 Chrysoloras* opens his Greek classes in Florence and we have the beginning of a
revival of Greek literature in Italy. The Florentines begin to get a thirst for classical culture.
The de Medici* start lending money on an international scale.
1398 - The French Confrerie de la Passion* begins performing religious plays in Paris. This
group will go on doing this until 1548.
1398 Another precursor of the protestant movement, Jan Hus* of Bohemia, lectures on
theology at Prage. His followers will spark a revolution, ending in devastation and a flood of
refugees to the west (which is where we get the term for anarchic and unconventional:
"Bohemians".)
Timur* conquers Delhi, India.
1399 In England, Richard II* is deposed and Henry IV* of Lancaster gets the throne.
1399 - In York (England) there is a guild of the Lord's Prayer* performing Paternoster plays
every year. These are also being performed in Lincoln and Beverley. The plays survive and
are extant.
The fourteenth century marks the end of feudalism* and the rise of a new Europe. Magic is
popular, witches are consulted for medical treatment, and alchemists are busy looking for the
philosopher's stone and the secret of turning everything into gold. The world is still medieval
and the "Great Chain of Being" determines everyone's and everything's place in the universe,
even in categories there is a hierarchy, the lion is king of the beasts as the eagle is king of
birds. God is at the top and stones are at the bottom. Earth is at the center of the universe and
the heavenly bodies revolve around it. Everyone knows their place. Everything is made of the
four elements (earth, fire, water, air) and everything else comes in fours (seasons, winds,
directions, ages of man.) In fact, people are crazy about numbers (which have magical
properties) like 3, 4, 6, 7, 12. This goes back to Pythagoras* and the Italians are reading him
for the first time. They love him. Western music is beginning just about now and uses the
Pythagorean scale. There is lots of talk about "the music of the spheres", that is, the mystical
heavenly sounds of Aristotle's* universe. But, Humanism* is in the air and it will soon settle
in Italy. The Theatre is moving on like a snowball going down hill, bigger every moment.
Theatre Blossoms
In The Fifteenth Century
What with that classical knowledge trickling in from Spain and from Byzantium there is a real
itch to find out more about it, at least in Italy. And, with the terrible Black Death behind them,
there is a lot of surplus wealth laying around burning a hole in their (the Italians) pockets, just
aching to be spent on something. There is also an overwhelming preoccupation with death and
judgement, but an equally overwhelming distrust of the church (especially all that selling of
indulgences, those spiritual pardons you can buy for any sin.) With that shortage of labor left
over from the population loss there is a strong drive for technology, most of all for something
that can do automatic copying and help bring down the high price of copying all those lovely
new books coming over the Pyrenees. Theatre reflects all this interest in being human and not
just religious, so things are moving toward secular theatre, without giving up the religious
theatre just yet. In fact the religious festival stuff is getting grander (and longer) by the
minute, much more spectacular, too, with all that interest in classical know-how.
In the Fifteenth century the Church is weakened by all that problem with the Pope (having too
many of them at once and not knowing which is the legitimate one) and the revival of
classical knowledge that threatens church authority. (The Church is not the only one who
knows something any more.)
Everything Takes Off
In All Directions At Once
The clergy have pretty well given up control of the increasingly secular drama to religious
guilds and flagellants (those weird people who like to run around whipping themselves for all
the sins that caused the great plague). The clergy are kind enough to also pass along to the
guilds and corporations who take over the financing, their great accumulation of scenery,
props and costumes that they have collected and used over the last two hundred years. This
gives the producing organizations a good stock of visual elements to build on. The guilds and
corporations have to have the last word in how the money will be spent and who will be in the
cast.
A more realistic style of presentation and of costume (except for things like devils, angels,
Adam and Eve and God, of course) begins to be the thing. There is the rise of farcical and
grotesque elements as well as topical references and lots of criticism of current affairs
cropping up in the plays.
1400 - Remember those military religious orders? Well now they're a lot of theatrical
religious orders for the express purpose of producing religious drama. Just like the military
they are mainly laymen, but this system gives them the needed link with the church for
producing theatre. One of the most important groups, in terms of theatre history, is the
Confrerie de la Passion* (Passion fraternity) in Paris*. It is now up and running.
1400 - The ecclesiastical drama flourishes in Italy.
*1400's - In England they are using two kinds of spaces for production, the pageant wagons*
and in the round. The round is used particularly in Cornwall. They also do the cycles*
differently than the rest of Europe. Instead of using the Corpus Christi* stations, the English
do mystery cycles with each text in short one-act form, so all the plays are of equal length.
There are multiple settings in the Cornish Plays* (done in Cornwall.) We still have two of
these plays, but the most famous is The Castle of Perseverance *. Both the performance
spaces used for production (at St. Just in Penwith and at Perranzabuloe) and the play still
exist. The playing rounds are 126 and 143 feet in diameter. Plays are also performed in a
semi-circle like the Roman theatres.
Another difference between the English and the rest of Europe, is their tendency to end the
play cycle with minstrels piping a dance in which the spectators are invited to participate. The
European ones all end with music of Te Deum*.
1400's - We find a Tirolean version of a secular May play, a boisterous Shrovetide comedy.
1400's - We begin to get Italian efforts to revive interest in Roman drama. This spreads
through the schools, universities, and those theatrical people in the law courts.
c. 1400 - The oldest extant Morality Play* called The Pride of Life* shows up.
1400 That Greek teacher from Byzantium, Manuel Chrysoloras*, really excites the
Florentines and a group of influential businessmen take a package tour to Constantinople.
They come back impressed and started to look for their own classical Roman past, lying
around in broken pieces all over. Petrarch* had said it decades before, that they soon would
be able to walk back to their glorious past. Now they want to. The first steps toward
Humanism are being taken. The Florentines really go for this classical civic glorification of
the community-conscious individual. That suits them to a tee. More important in the near
future, they come back from their trip with a copy of the absolute best in ancient map making
information, a copy of Ptolemy's* Geographica.
The earliest known literature in the Cornish language shows up here.
1401 Timur* conquers Damascus* and Bagdad*
1402 Timur* defeats the Turkish Caliph at Ankara and takes him prisoner.
1402 - In France the Confrerie de la Passion* gets the monopoly for doing shows in Paris.
1403 Suleiman I* takes over as head of as much of the Eastern Islamic Empire as Timur* has
left him.
1405 Timur* dies.
1408 The Italian sculptor, Donatello*, turns out his statues of "David" and "St. John."
1410 The final end comes to the Teutonic Knights* when they are annihilated by the Polish
and Lithuanian army. Their home of Marrienburg remains intact as does most of their
territory. But, as a military order, they are finished.
1411 - The Confrerie de la Passion* moves its operations indoors (in case you wondered if
everybody did their thing out in the weather, the answer is mostly, but not always.) They are
now housed in the Hospital de la Trinite*.
1412 What with all scientific mathematical and optical knowledge coming in from Spain, and
the passionate interest in Roman ruins (to figure out how they did what they did with
architecture), things are beginning to happen. A happy by-product is the association of an
educated merchant named Toscanelli* with a practical architect, Brunelleschi*. After a
successful dome-building job they collaborate on, Brunelleschi* gets interested in this
perspective* stuff Toscanelli* told him about, and puts it to practical use with the first-ever
perspective painting. Boy! will this ever be a boon to the Renaissance theatre! But more of
that later. He publishes all about it in his "Rules of Perspective."
1413 In England Henry IV* dies and Henry V* comes to the throne.
A note about that Brunelleschi* architect. He also works out the technical apparatus for
performances in, and in front of, churches in Florence. He is responsible for convincing the
Florentines to regard their religious theatre as works of art.
1413 - Secular: In Germany they are doing crude, robust (that usually means sexy) plays
called Klucht*, put on by "fool's companies." Then there are the Sotternieen*, which are
lighthearted afterpeices (that means between courses of dinner, or after dinner.)
1413 - The Low Countries begin having competitions among the Chambers of Rhetoric*. A
question is posed and the various chambers compose and produce answers in the form of
allegorical drama. There is a prize for the best. This becomes the major dramatic expression
of the Low Countries. They are performed both outdoors and indoors. They come up with a
special kind of stage that looks a lot like it could lead to the later Elizabethan stage.
415 Henry V* defeats the French at Agincourt*.
Jan Hus* is burned at the stake for heresy.
The King of Portugal starts trying to find an alternate route to the Spice Islands (Way off in
the East, off the Malay peninsula.)
1419 Remember those Jews who retired to an island to study navigation? Well, Prince Henry*
(later known as the "navigator") of Portugal is using their work and sets up a school of
navigation at Sagres, Cape St. Vincent, the westernmost spot in Europe. He wants to do a
little Christianizing in Africa, and a lot of finding a new way to get to the East and those Spice
Islands.
1425 Henry*'s (the Portuguese) brother, Pedro, goes off to Florence (the map center of the
universe), and get Toscanelli* (who, besides being a merchant and student of mathematics, is
also a doctor and a cartographer) to put together all the information he can on maps. So
Toscanelli* does, including all that great stuff they learned from Ptolemy about making a grid
so you can tell where things are (as opposed to the medieval way of just making a cute
decorative picture.)
1425 - The English morality* play reaches its zenith in The Castle of Preseverance*. We
know more about this play than almost any other thanks to an exhaustive investigation by
Richard Southern (reported in his book The Medieval Theatre in the Round (1957). This way
of doing shows in the round doesn't seem to have caught on over on the continent.
1426 Holland becomes the center of European music.
1426 - In Navarre, students of Paris College de Navarre make a morality play out of a sermon.
1428 That strange little French peasant girl, Joan of Arc*, leads the French army against the
English.
1429 Joan of Arc* raises the siege at Orleans and makes possible the crowning of Charles
VII* at Rheims.
In England Henry VI* is crowned.
1430 - 1515 - The free Hansa city of Lubeck has "Lubeck clubs" which organizs
performances of little comedies and then performs them on wagons. It looks like everybody is
getting into the theatrical business.
1430 Joan of Arc* is captured by the Burgundians and handed over to the church inquisition
for trial. Meanwhile in England the language is changing from Middle English towards
Modern English.
The great cast iron gun ("Mad Marjorie") is introduced.
1431 Joan of Arc* is found guilty of heresy and burned at the stake at Rouen.
1431 - At the court of Philip the Good of Burgundy, Georges Chastellian* writes a play with
allegorical figures as the active protagonists. It is entitled Le Concilede Bale*.
1432 - The Pageant Wagons* are widely used for other events besides plays. The civil
pageants, like the one welcoming young Henry VI* to the city of London is a case in point (in
the Renaissance these will be called Trionfi.) This one is allegorical and performed at six key
places in the city as the procession moves through London. The allegories deal with the
responsibilities of governing and the qualities needed in a king.
1433 Symbols are important and this is the year the double-eagle is adopted as the emblem of
the Holy Roman Emperors*.
1434 Those Portuguese explorers are working their way down the African coast and Joao
Diaz rounds Cape Bojador.fs
1435 A Swedish Parliament meets for the first time. Democracy is looking up.
1439 - Down in Florence, Italy, they do a show honoring John the Baptist* with 22 settings
on moveable scaffolds.
1439 - Some of the morality* plays become really elaborate. A case in point is Bien advise
mal advise* (Bad advice, Good Advice) performed at Rennes. It is 8,000 lines long with a
cast of sixty. The well known Wheel of Fortune* is part of the elaborate scenery. In this little
gem the "well-advised" get carried up to heaven by angels.
1439 The Pope calls a big meeting to see what the west can do to help Byzantium* where the
terrible Turks are on the doorstep. Florence is willing to foot the bill, especially that merchant
Toscanelli*, since the spice trade would go down the tube if the Turks take Constantinople*
.1441 Portuguese navigators (thanks in part to all that map help they're getting from
Toscanelli*) exploring the west coast of Africa find the African Gold Coast. It has all those
lovely precious metals and blacks. Now, what with the labor shortage back home, they start
up the slave trade again.
1442 - The social farce is developing in the efforts of jurists, scribes, students, civic
organizations, wandering scholars, merchants and craftsmen. The composition and production
of farces is especially evident in the law-clerks associations (Basoches*) with performances
called Basoches* du Palais.
The nice thing about farce is that it makes no technical demands and can be done anywhere.
They do use costumes and masks. Both the farce and the sottie* have heroes that are
commoners and courtiers in fool's dress. The sottie* is closely connected with Paris groups
like the Enfants sans souci* and similar groups throughout France.
1445 Those Portuguese explorers are still working their way down the African coast and
Diniz Diaz discovers Cape Verde.
1449 on - The apprentices of Nuremberg's guilds organize the Schenbartlauf*, Shrovetide
comedies and other merriments. In the Tirolean south the location of these Schenbartlauf* is
set in King Arthur's court. These theatrical events put on by various boy's groups remain a
popular entertainment for another hundred years.
1450 Florence under the Medici* becomes the center of humanism and Renaissance.
1450 or so - Burlesques* and peasant plays* are becoming popular throughout Europe. For
example: the Conrega dei Rozzi* group in Sienna (Italy) is so successful with its Peasant
Plays* that they are invited to play in Rome and at the Vatican.
1450 - All over the Low Countries, especially in Flanders, they're using those wagons too
(called Wagon spel*). They have also got a craftsmen's acting association up and running
(Gesetten ronde Spele*.)
1452 Metal plates are used for printing.
1453-1455 Gutenberg* and his financier, Johannes Fust* print the first 42 line Bible at
Mainz* and keeps on printing books like crazy.
1453 The Hundred Years War* ends with the English giving up territory. Constantinople*
falls to the Turks and we end the Middle Ages.
1485 - 1510 - Germany is busy doing all kinds of different plays. They come up with the first
known play-within-a-play about a female Faust-type who gets into a bargain with the devil
but is forgiven in the end. Marieken vaon Nieumeghen* is the title of this anonymous gem.
1486 through 1528 - cover the period in which Albrecht Durer* did his incredible woodcuts in
Nuremberg, Germany. Although he is later than this period, his works illustrate the medieval
characters and subject matter just as it would be seen in the plays. He also worked on
illustrations of the spectacular Triumph of Maximillian* I (along with a lot of other artists).
Illustrations of the entire triumph is published in 1512. It shows us a great deal about the
elaborateness of all varieties of wagons used all over Europe for Pageants, Processions and
Festivals as well as Triumphs*.
*1495 or 1509 - We have no idea who wrote the best known morality play Everyman *. But,
it is still frequently done and always popular. Despite its late date, it really belongs in the
Middle Ages.
Afterword
Actually, of course, as social development usually does, the Medieval world lingers on in
many places and many aspects. But with the rise of Humanism * already off to a good start in
Florence, the printing press up and running and all set to handle all those new theatre books
that are streaming in from Constantinople*, with religious theatre on the wane and secular
theatre on the rise, this is a good place to end one period and prepare to start another. The
professional actor is here, as is the playwright and the designer. The Renaissance is coming
fast and furious and the world is about to change beyond recognition.
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PART II
The Renaissance Through Romanticism - The Trunk
1450s to 1830
Introduction
This period deals with the development of the popular and commercial theatre. It begins in the
intellectual revolution of humanism and ends as the societal industrial revolution begins. The
relationship theatre has with society undergoes a complete change in this period. Ever since
we started western theatre in Greece it has enjoyed the support of the government and of
religious bodies because it is recognized as a vital community activity. In Greece it was a
forum in which the best ideas and characteristics of the community were put forth. In Rome it
was changed into entertainment and offered as one of the ways of celebrating events of
special significance to the community. In Medieval times theatre was taken up by the church
as a way of communicating Christian ideals to the whole community.
As we begin this period there are several things that need to be taken into account. The
Ottoman Empire (inheritor of the eastern part of the earlier Islamic Empire) is beating at the
doors of Europe. The Renaissance (rebirth) begins with the arrival in Europe of scholars (and
their books) fleeing from the Ottoman Turks when they take Constantinople, the last
remaining vestige of the old Christian Orthodox Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire
in the East. Meanwhile, there is the Holy Roamn Empire in the West, which is neither Roman,
nor particularly Holy. At this time the current ruler of Bohemia (later this is western
Czechoslovakia) is Holy Roman Emperor Sisigmund I. At the moment, he is having a terrible
time leading a cursading army to fight the Protestant Hussite rebellion in his home territory.
The other important thing dominating the beginning of this period is the recent invention of
the printing press. The Rennaisance is possible because of the ability to put into print all that
classical literature becoming available to Europe as the Arabic tide recedes. The spread of
newly rediscovered knowledge stimulates all of western society.
Now Europe is breaking up into nationalistic states which want to get out from under any
control by the Catholic church in Rome. Private patronage of theatre (which has been with us
since Roman times) becomes much more important as the transition begins to public, market
oriented theatre. Slowly professional companies emerge to fill the gap in patronage as the
Church withdraws and theatre moves into a production pattern we can recognize today. The
market place determines what will and what won't be put on the stage. Commercial
entertainment and artistic merit come to be the criteria for successful theatrical production.
We move into the time of national interests and characteristic national styles.
This part of theatre history is difficult to follow because important, but very different things,
are happening in different countries at much the same time. For this reason we will be
covering the same time frame several times from different points of view.
The first point of view is Italian. With the fall of Constantinople in 1543, and the last frantic
flight of scholars and their books to the West, the availability of classical knowledge is by and
large complete. Gradually the church abandons theatre entirely and, with the dominance of the
affluent merchant class is Italy, theatrical professionals have the opportunity to get back to
work and move the amateurs off the stage.
Between the paying customers and the wealthy patrons, theatre really takes off. The Golden
Age of Theatre is here. All sorts of theatre buildings start popping up all over. Architects and
designers have a field day. Playwrights and actors take center stage and everything gets
published on those new printing presses. From its start in Italy the Renaissance spreads
throughout Europe where we will pick up all the other points of view.
Spain picks up the Italian theatrical ideas first. Once the Spanish finish pushing the Moslems
out of Spain they launch Columbus on his explorations. Very soon there is all that new wealth
coming in from the Americas. At the same time England splits with the Catholic church and
goes its own way theatrically. Central Europe and France are much slower in developing their
theatre because of all that religious
Protestant stuff that leads to wars and social unrest. France finally gets into the swing of
things and puts the icing on the Renaissance cake with their French neoclassic period.
The humble farce, classical comedy and tragedy explode into a bewildering array of theatrical
forms. The Italians try to recreate classical tragedy performance and create opera instead. The
Medieval disquisings are transmuted in the royal courts into the court Masque, which the
French will then develop into ballet.
Times and society keep changing. The English cut off Charles I's head and the English theatre
goes to school with the French. When the exiled English go home from Paris to the
Restoration, high comedy rules the day. The French neoclassic stuff gets stale and the
Germans finally get a little peace and stability.
What with all that commerce happening with the Far East and nationalism being the in thing
all over, people begin to get the romantic idea. Romanticism takes off in Germany and
spreads like crazy. But, just as it's blossoming, the Industrial Revolution gets under way and
society takes a revolutionary turn.
We end this period in intellectual, philosophical, scientific, technological, political, religious,
and social turmoil. All this revolution will, of course, revolutionize the theatre.
CHAPTER SEVEN................................The Italian Renaissance 1450s to 1550s - The First
Stop In The Golden Age of Theatre Chap7
CHAPTER EIGHT................................The Spanish Renaissance 1550-1587 - Continues The
Golden Age of Theatre Chap8
CHAPTER NINE.................................The English Renaissance 1588-1629 - Continues The
Golden Age of Theatre Chap9
CHAPTER TEN..................................French Neoclassic and English Restoration 1630-1680 The French Theatre Finally Gets Up and Running Chap10
CHAPTER ELEVEN...............................Theatre in the Age of Reason 1680-1770 CHAP11
CHAPTER TWELVE...............................Romanticism 1770-1830 Chapter 12
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CHAPTER SEVEN
The Italian Renaissance
1450s to 1550s
The First Stop In The Golden Age of Theatre
Introduction
Not since the Golden Age of Greek theatre has so much universally admired theatre occurred.
For this reason the theatre of the European Renaissance of Italy, Spain and England is
designated a Golden Age. Much of the theatrical activity happens simultaneously in these
three ethnic and linguistic locations. Despite this simultaneity they are very different from
each other. In order to clarify the differences while maintaining the interdependence of
theatrical development we will emphasize each country in turn.
We begin in Italy with the translation, proliferation and the concurrent experimentation which
reveals classical Greek and Roman knowledge and heritage to Europe. The next stop will be
in Spain, to illuminate the peculiarly Spanish contribution to western theatre. The third stop
will take us to England.
When the Renaissance begins there are three main areas of theatrical production. The Church
dominates theatre with enormous Mystery Cycle productions at the Corpus Christi festival in
late May (or early June). Miracle and Morality plays are also popular and the craft guilds,
towns and churches fund and support these religious plays. The wealthy nobility and
merchants employ theatre as the Romans did, to display their wealth and magnanimity as they
celebrate weddings, victories, etc. These productions are full of spectacle and music. The third
major area of theatrical production is found in the professions, mainly the lawyers. Here we
find the low countries' Chambers of Rhetoric* and the various French and German society
plays. Theatre professionals are to be found mainly in productions by the wealthy and the
Church. This theatrical pattern and theatrical content is about to change
Humanism comes to Italy
Keeping in mind that classical knowledge has been trickling into Europe through Spain for
hundreds of years and has been available (at least the scientific stuff) in Spanish Universities
all this time, we need a brief explanation of why the humanistic revolution gets started in
Italy.
Why Italy?
First, Italy is the primary heir of what once had been the Roman Empire in the West. The
Western Empire, over run by barbarians back in the 400s, after a thousand years of false
starts, continuous warfare, Crusades against the Moslem forces in Palestine and plague and
disease,) is finally sorting itself out into reasonably stable kingdoms of one kind or another.
Through all of this the Italian peninsula has managed to keep more continuity of learning,
prosperity and order in several independant cities.
At this point in time (the 1450s) there is a strong Islamic Empire, ruled by Turks (who
wrested power from their Arab masters quite a while ago), occupying a large territory
centered in Damascus and reaching north up into the Balkans and west across North Africa
toward Libya. There is a separate Arabic Islamic rule centered in Spain (and extending
through Morocco and Algeria in Eastern North Africa,) which is swiftly crumbling under the
Christian attack of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. [This is why we don't start in Spain.
They are otherwise occupied at the moment.] The Turks have been slowly but surely
devouring the Eastern Roman Empire (a.k.a. Bysantine Empire) for the last six hundred years.
It's capital, Constantinople, is frequently besieged. Now the capital and last bastion of the
ancient Empire is finally over run.
When Constantinople falls to the Turks in 1453 Italy is the wealthiest and best educated part
of Europe. It has a number of things going for it. First of all, Italy is the home of the Pope and
the whole system of the Vatican which manages Catholic business everywhere.
Consequentially they are rich beyond anybody else. Also they have big time educational
standards.
Second, Italy, as the first port of call in the trade routes from the East, takes the lion's share of
all the monies made on trade, banking, insurance business, holding companies not to mention
diplomatic and government posts. With the Turks now cutting that trade route there will be a
gradual downward trend in that income, but Spanish connections in Naples and the Italian
invention of international banking will keep financial futures looking rosy for quite a while.
Third, that secular University business has been going great guns all over Italy educating
lawyers in double entry bookkeeping, law, and, how to handle all the money. They also are
busy looking into everything classical in an effort to help the rich merchants make their towns
look as spectacular as ancient Rome. That is, they are trying to bring culture into their corner
of the world and they have the wherewithal to do it. So, they start up all kinds of academies
that specialize in Roman and Greek classical knowledge.
Geography and Political units Fourth and last is the rather unique political makeup of Italy. The peninsula is run by five
major powers: Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence and the Papal States. Starting in the south
there is the Kingdom of Naples which is currently under the control of Spanish overlords.
Naples includes the islands of Sardinia and Sicily as well as all the peninsula south of Rome.
Just north of Naples are the Papal States which include a lot of various small political pieces,
some of which are more independent than others. It also includes, of course, Rome which is
where all the action, traffic and money is.
North of the Papal States is that part of Italy known as Tuscany [If you remember, this was
the home of the Etruscans who taught the first Romans everything they knew.] This whole
upper part of the peninsula is dominated by the Republic of Florence [including the Republic
of Siena, Ferrara, Duchy of Modena and even Urbino which owes the Papal State.]
Florence will be the most interesting cultural spot especially (since Cosimo became the
leading power broker in the 1430's) when it is ruled by the de'Medici* family. The
de'Medicis* are very big on being patrons of art and theatre. They are also typical of the
Italian merchants who become more powerful than kings in other countries. These merchant
princes will also run much of the Catholic church, supplying a number of Popes.
Northwest, running over the Lombard plains to the Alps, is the Duchy of Milan. They pretty
much control the Republic of Genoa (on the Gulf of Genoa) and the island of Corsica.
Stretching west where the peninsula spreads into the European continent, on the northern end
of the Adriatic Sea, is the large Republic of Venice. This particular republic is considerably
more democratic than any of the others, also it has a bigger fleet and closer trade ties to the
east.
Why not elsewhere in Europe?
If you recall the Middle Ages you will be aware that the French and English are busy fighting
the tail end of the Hundred Years War which will be followed by the English civil War of the
Roses. The Germans are fighting the Russians and Slavs and the whole eastern edge of
Europe is fighting Turks and Mongols. The Spanish are still fighting the last of the Moslem
Moors and, along with the Portuguese, are trying to find another way to get to all that rich
eastern trade on which the Italians have a monopoly. Consequently, these various other
Europeans are too busy at the moment to do the experimentation and development of classical
knowledge the Italians will do. The rest of Europe will pick it up second hand from Italy.
The primary theatrical contribution of the Italian connection lies in their examination,
experimentation and dissemination of theatrical texts. These texts include plays, critical works
and scenic and architectural works (especially the architectural works of Virtuvius* and the
descriptive theatrical encyclopedia of Pollux.*
The secondary theatrical contribution is the Italian Commedia Dell'Arte,* an improvisational
street comedy decended from Roman comedy, which will delight and influence acting and
comedy writing throughout Europe.
Humanism* and the Theatre Medieval theatre continues in fits and starts wherever the Catholic Church has the upper hand.
Simultaneously the new knowledge and attitudes acquired from all those classical books is
starting a movement called Humanism* [from the Latin studius humanitatis meaning the
"studies of mankind".] This movement regards man (the human) as the measure of all things,
instead of taking the Medieval religious view that God is the only thing worth considering.
The Humanists are fascinated with everything classical, including the theatre.
Classic Models Among all those classical books flooding into Itlay are copies of the plays of the Greeks,
Aeschylus*, Sophocles*, Euripides* and Aristophanes* as well as the Greek dramatic
criticism of Aristotle* which will be interpreted and misinterpreted to the present day. The
Italians are far more interested in the classical Roman writings, the comedies of Plautus* and
Terence* and the tragedies of Seneca*, as well as works on rhetoric, architecture and
theatrical production. They use the Roman critic Horace* as a guide to understanding
Aristotle. Since Italians regard themselves as descendents of Romans, they try to make their
Italy as grand as their ideas of Rome in its heyday.
So we have three theatrical directions going at once: the medieval religious, the humanist
academic for the courts and intellectuals, and the popular street theatre for the masses. The
Religious theatre we are already familiar with and it will be easy to follow it as it blooms its
last and subsides into a minor place in society.
The Academic theatre is the glory of the early Renaissance. It is here (where the money and
knowledge is) that the theatrical principles of classic Greek and Roman theatre are reborn a
thousand years after the barbarian hordes destroyed the cultural centers of the Roman Empire.
In the areas of theatrical architecture, scenery, technical innovation and design, the new
knowledge will change theatrical production into a form we recognize today. The best
architects and painters will design the scenery and theatre architecture. The rulers (especially
the Florentine Medici* family) promote, encourage and fund all this theatrical stuff for two
hundred years.
Views of how plays should be written and produced are patterned on humanistic
understanding of the classics. The literary products of this rebirth do not closely resemble the
originals and are welded on to the theatrical fruits of the medieval world. The results provide
a bewildering variety of plays, as Polonius lists in Hamlet*:
"...tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral,
tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, ..."*
There are also short plays for specific occasions. Some of these are:
a sottie*
an interlude*
Mummings,* Mummers' Plays*
In addition to the various forms of plays, the Italians misinterpret the production of tragedy.
They assume that the entire Greek text was sung. The Italians put this idea into practice with a
reconstruction of Oedipus Rex* sung and lavisly accompanied by dance, thereby inventing
opera.* They also take classic information on theatrical dance, add this to Medieval court
disguisings and musical entertainments and create Masques* which will develop (later in
France) into ballet.
In the popular street theatre the continuum of professional actors blend Greek and Roman
comic characters, adapted through the Middle Ages to the local culture's Italian comics, and
create Commedia Dell'Arte*. The Commedia acting and comic scenarios will provide one of
the most popular and influential theatrical performance forms for the next two hundred years.
The Theatrical Renaissance Starts
How and Where
In order to understand the rise of Humanism* and its impact on the theatre we have to go back
briefly and take notice of the earlier isolated moments leading up to this period. Several
dramatic efforts had been made in imitation of the classic theatrical forms in the fourteenth
century.
c.1315 The earliest humanist tragedy appears, written in Latin. It is Eccerinus* by Albertino
Mussato*. Written in Senecan form, its subject matter is drawn from Christian doctrine.
c. 1390 A tragedy appears on a classical subject, Achilles*, by Antoino Laschi* , written in
Latin.
c. 1390 The first humanist comedy appears, Paulus*, by Pier Paolo Vegerio*. This comedy,
written in Latin is a satire on student life.
As we move into the fifteenth century more classical works show up.
1414 Vitruvius*' comprehensive work on Roman architecture, De Architectura* is
rediscovered [especially important for us is Book X which deals with the theatre.] It will take
a while to get this one printed, with all os its lavish illustrations. Consequently, it does not
become widely available. A few Italians will study it and develop theatre designs.
1425 - In Florence, under the patronage of Cosimo de Medici*, perspective is finally
systematized by the architect Filippo Brunelleschi* (1377-1446) and a painter, Masaccio*
(1401-1428). This perspective business will revolutionize theatrical scenery when they put it
together with all that architectural stuff from Vitruvius.
1429 - Twelve of Plautus*' lost plays are rediscovered.
1429 Cosimo de Medici* takes over the leadership of the family and becomes the first
eminent Florentine patron of the arts and a key figure in reviving the study of the ancient
world.
1435 - The first treatise on perspective, Della Pittura* by Leon Battista Alberti*, comes out.
It's a terrifically handy little guide to how to draw in perspective.
1450 Under the rule of the Medici*, Florence becomes the center of humanism* and the
Renaissance. The sculptor, Ghiberti,* will finish his Gates of Paradise at the Florence
baptistery in two years (he began it in 1425.)
The rise of humanism* is a slow process and there are still many examples of medieval
theatre all over Europe.
1450-60 - We find in Germany the Hesse Christmas Play*, and we can begin to see a close
relation between art (painting and sculpture) and dramatizations in the subject choice, how
figures are grouped and the costumes and props. This is useful because now we can look at
the art and begin to have some idea how the plays looked in production.
In 1452 and again in 1460 we begin to see really gross realism in the passion plays. For
example, in the scene depicting the punishment of Judas, real sheep guts are purchased and at
the point at which Judas is disemboweled the pouch holding them on the actor is slit open and
the guts spill out, providing amazement and delight for the crowd.
The Renaissance Officially Begins
1453 Constantinople falls to the Turks and we mark the beginning of the Renaissance as the
last of the Roman Empire in the East crumbles and the scholars and their books flee to Italy.
1455 In England there will be a delay in the arrival of the Renaissance because the "War of
the Roses"* begins when the Duke of York (Richard)* defeats the royal forces at St. Albans
and (for the second time) becomes the "Protector."
1456 In other parts of Europe the population is preoccupied with other, more urgent things,
like survival. Those aggressive Turks are still pressing against eastern Europe as they overrun
Athens. Over in France, a real rake and terrific poet named Francois Villon* is coming out
with his Le Petit Testament*.
1465 The printing press is introduced into Italy and all those books from Constantinople as
well as from Spain begin to be printed. Printing in the West began in 1453 and took into 1455
for the German Gutenberg* and his financier, Johannes Fust* to print the first 42 line Bible at
Mainz*. Considering that it took two years to put out the first book, you will realize that
printing a large number of different texts will take some time.
1465 - In France the social farce Maistre Pierre Pathelin* marks the beginning of French
comedy. The social farce originates from jurists, scholars, scribes, students, civic associations,
wandering scholars, merchants and craftsmen, especially from the law clerks association
(Basoches*.) The English won't be up to writing this sophisticated a comedy for another sixty
years (see below.)
1467 Pope Paul II establishes the first printing press in Rome to print works in Greek.
[remember that each letter has to be cast in metal to make up the supply of letters the printer
uses when setting his type. All those letters are for the Latin alphabet. Now the Pope is getting
a set of Greek letters.]
In Venice the Aldus Manutius press begins putting out a group of works refered to as the
Aldine classics.
1469 Over in Spain, Ferdinand* (currently King of Sicily) and Isabella* get married. She is
third in line for the throne of Castile and he is second in line to that of Aragon. But things will
change soon and they will make a big splash in history. When we talk about Spain, keep in
mind that this is not what you would call a well-organized country. Aragon has a pretty good
parliamentary tradition and the merchant class is the most influential. Castile, on the other
hand, is hardly more than a very loose affiliation of petty kingdoms run by the local nobles. In
addition the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon have hated each other for centuries. Most of the
next thirty years will be filled with endless civil wars, punctuated with battles against the
Moors (Spanish for the Moslems in Spain) in Granada*.
1470 The Portuguese navigators are busy discovering the Gold Coast of West Africa. This
will mean gold, money, and, later, slaves. The First printing press is set up at the Sorbonne in
Paris.
1471 - The first pastoral* play is done in Italy. The pastoral may have been patterned on the
Greek Satyr play, but it is not recognizable as such. The Italian pastoral deals with love.
1471-1518 Between these dates all the known Greek and Roman plays are published.
1473 - The first printing of the works of Terence* helps get classic Roman comedy out into
Europe.
1474 - In France the Medieval theatre is still the main theatrical form. At Rouen, on a stage
180 feet long, they are staging the Mystere de l'Incarnation.*
1474 In England the first book in English is printed by William Caxton*. This printing
business gives a big boost to the process of getting all these different languages straightened
out.
In Spanish Castile* King Henry* dies and Isabella* becomes Queen of Castile. There is a
fairly sticky war of succession waged against her by a relative (a niece, Juana La Beltraneja)
who has the support of Alphonso V* of Portugal (who is an uncle of Juana and wants to
marry her, and, to complicate the matter further, Portugal used to be part of Spain but isn't at
the moment.) If all this seems very confusing, it is. This is the typical kind of bickering,
battling and making alliances which fills Europe during the Renaissance.
1475 - England has a flourishing religious theatre. The last play of the English Marco Morals*
(the big three of the morality plays) Mankind* appears. With a small cast of 5-7 players, it
seems to be the property of a band of strolling players who perform it for profit.
1476 - In France, at Tarascon, they take several days to perform the morality play L'homme
Juste et L'homme Mondain*.
1478 The Pope grants Ferdinand* and Isabella* permission to introduce an Inquisition* into
Castile. This interesting Catholic institution develops as an instrument of the Spanish
government and reports to the Crown (who also appoints its officers.) Officially its aim is to
uncover relapsed Christians (forcibly converted Jews and Moslems who are reverting to their
original religion) but actually it starts out as an instrument of racial persecution. Those who
are convicted are paraded in an "auto-da-fe"* (an act of faith) wearing smocklike penitential
garments. Those who are "reconciled" to the true faith wear yellow ones with diagonal crosses
while those who are remanded to the secular arm to be executed wear black decorated with
paintings of demons and hell-fire. After the parade these garments are hung up in the parish
church with the name of the individual who wore them attached until they crumble to dust.
Even when the garments have turned to dust, sometimes new ones are put up so nobody can
forget the shame. The worst part of the Inquisition* is the procedure of anonymous
accusation. After a while there are some safeguards, (more evidence required) and people who
accuse for personal gain are prosecuted. Later Inquisitions* in Italy and central Europe will be
far worse in terms of abuse of the system.
1479 Bringing order to Spain That messy Castilian war comes to an end and Queen Isabella* is firmly in control. The same
year Ferdinand* accedes to the throne of Aragon. They both set to work trying to curb the
powers of their respective nobles and quit all this civil warring. The nobles lose a lot of
money, castles and influence but laws get better.
Spanish Military Orders* The hard part is how to deal with those influential (and wealthy) orders that have grown up (in
imitation of the religious monastic orders of knighthood) to fight in the "Reconquest of Spain"
(remember the Spanish have been doing this since the twelfth century.) There are three of
these orders in Castile: Santiago*, Calatrava* and Alcantara*. Not only are these very rich
and powerful, they also have their own authority system. Each order has a Grand Master,
officers and knights who all enjoy all the privileges of the clergy as well as the aristocracy.
This system puts them outside the reach of most of the laws of the kingdom. [note:
understanding this strange Spanish system is critical to following the plots of later Spanish
plays about them.] Isabella and Ferdinand develop a clever way of dealing with these guys.
They gradually get Ferdinand elected Grand Master of each of them as the posts become
vacant. They get hold of the last one in 1499 and start moving most of the Orders' revenues
into the royal treasury. This puts a real crimp in any possibility for rebellion. Membership in
the Orders become essentially a matter of honors to be bestowed by the crown.
Another threat to civil order comes from the "Brotherhoods" (hermandades). These are bands
of vigilantes financed by many of the Castilian towns to keep order and protect the interest of
the town, a sort of early police force loyal only to the town. Isabella* creates a national one,
the Holy Brotherhood* (Santa Hermandad), run by the Crown, to dispense justice impartially.
It seems very much like a highway patrol or national police force. These guys are recruited
from each village and town by quota. When the aristocracy objects to this the King and Queen
also raise a permanent national army to keep everybody (including the aristocracy) peaceful
and orderly. It takes about twenty years, but by 1500 the system brings reasonable order out
of the medieval chaos and Spain begins to shape up as a Renaissance power. Unlike other
countries the Crown also has control over the Spanish Church with authority to appoint all
ecclesiastical positions and make church reforms in Spain. This makes it possible for the
Spanish Catholic Church to avoid those problems that give rise to the Reformation in central
Europe and make life difficult for the Italian papacy.
1479 - In Germany, Hans Folz*, a native of Worms who works in Nuremberg, is known as
the producer and author of a bunch of comic Shrovetide plays called Fastnachsspiele*.
[Remember that Shrovetide includes the Monday and Tuesday immediately before Ash
Wednesday which makes it a big carnival and festival time before Lent.] These attack the
political and moral decline of knights.
You will notice that the comic dramatizations performed for religious holidays become
increasingly political. This will contribute to the problems the church has with secular
productions for church events. Soon play production will split up and comedy will become
entirely secular. From this date on the apprentices (Schembartlauf*) of Nuremberg guilds are
organized.
1480 Every now and then a real person appears on the scene who will be taken up and used by
writers, playwrights and painters later on. One such individual is born this year, Georg Faust*,
who will become a German magician and the prototype of the Faust* legend.
1480 - Redemption is the big theme, especially in German countries. Drawing on legends of
"Pope Joan" who was a terrific sinner but got redeemed as she died, they put together a work
called Speil von frau Jutten*.
1482 In Spain, Isabella* and Ferdinand* open attack on the Moorish kingdom of Granada*
1483 Up in England Richard III* claims the throne when young Edward V and his brother
mysteriously disappear. (This is one of those events and set of characters that will show up in
plays, stories and paintings.)
1484 Pope Innocent VIII* issues a Bull (that's what they call a letter communicating what the
Pope orders) against witchcraft and sorcery. We are in for three hundred years of active witch
hunting. Columbus* (Genoese map maker and would-be explorer) tries to interest the
Portuguese in a voyage west to get to the East. The Portuguese, who currently have the
monopoly on maritime exploration, are busy working their way around Africa to go east and
turn him down. He tries the Spanish next. They are interested but can't afford it at the moment
as they are fighting the Moors.
1485 Up in England Henry Tudor* defeats and kills Richard III*. The result is that he comes
to the throne as Henry VII* (he'll rule into 1509) and starts the Tudor* dynasty (which will
continue through Elizabeth I.**
Italian Theatrical Renaissance Gets Going
1485 - Italian rulers begin to finance the production of Roman (or imitation Roman) plays as
part of their efforts to bring culture to Italy, but they are still done in Latin. The first tragedy
by Seneca* is staged in Rome by the humanists and the first comedy by Plautus* is done in
Ferrara by the Duke.
Even more influential is the printing of Vitruvius'* Ten Books on Architecture* which will
provide graphic architectural information for the shape of the Renaissance stage.
1485 - Meanwhile, in England largely pantomimic Mummings* and Disguisings* are very
popular with Henry VII* (he reigns 1485-1509.)
Disguisings* are amateur productions, using masks and costumes, put on by
the royal household and its resident nobility, usually in honor of some royal
guest. In England the Master of the Chapel Royal* choirboys is often
responsible for these entertainments. The form of Disguisings* comes, in part,
from the Mummers' Play*. As the Masque* develops, Disguisings* gradually
merge into that form and disappear as a separate entertainment. Mummings*
tend to make more use of dance and characters from their folk festival origins,
the Mummers' Plays*. These may be produced by trained groups rather than
done by court participants.
1486 - In Ferrara they've got one of those academies for reviving classical learning, the
Roman Academy*. They give the first performance of an ancient play. In order to do this sort
of production, they need the original theatre (whcich, of course, they don't have). Under the
leadership of a guy named Pomponius Laetus* (1424-1498) they get busy trying to figure out
how to reconstruct the important points of a Roman Theatre by using the architectural
information from Vitruvius* as a how-to guide. People come from all over Europe to study
with Laetus* so they can take all this production stuff back home.
1491 - In France the Miracle of Pentecost is the subject of Jean Michel's* Mystere de la
Resurrection*.
1492 - In England we finally find a professionsl English acting troupe, the Earl of Oxford's
Men*. This doesn't mean the troupe performs just for him. This is patronage and provides the
troupe with legal status and protection so they aren't imprisoned as "masterless men."
1492 In Spain in January, the last Moslems in Spain (in Granada*) give up. This surrender
marks the end of centuries of Islamic rule. The event is followed by a crusade against the
large Jewish minority in Spain. Under the Inquisitor-General, Torquemada*, the Jews and
Moslems have three months to either leave or be baptized. The Spanish Catholics are really a
zealous bunch. In April the King and Queen finally give Columbus* the OK for his trip west.
They give him two ships and he finances a third. On August 3 he sails away in the Nina, Pinta
and the Santa Maria. On October 12 Christopher Columbus* makes landfall on San Salvador
in the Bahamas, the "new world." It may be new to the Europeans, but it's all the aboriginal
inhabitants know of the world.
1493 What with all this zealous exploration by the Spanish and the Portuguese they get Pope
Alexander VI* to issue a Bull dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal.
1493 Maximilian I* (-1519) becomes the Holy Roman Emperor*. One of his first acts is to
give Lodovico Sforza* the Duchy of Milan. Sforza* is into encouraging art and classical
studies, just like the other Italian leaders.
In April Columbus* returns to the Spanish court with six aboriginal "Indians" and various
examples of gold, pearls and exotic flora and fauna. The Age of Discovery is now up and
running. The Spanish take European diseases, Christianity, sheep and horses to the new world
and bring back gold, silver and probably syphilis (at least this disease begins to ravage Europe
as men return from the Americas.)
1494 - France is very busy with more morality plays. At Tours* they are doing L'homme
Pecheur* (Man the Sinner.)
1494 Interesting side observation: the first known lottery is held in Germany. It's a Goods
Lottery. Apparently the idea catches on. We'll see more later.
1495 The French King, Charles VIII*, invades Italy and Florence. He Takes Naples. All this
warfare in Italy doesn't seem to slow the artists. Da Vinci* is busy painting "The Last Supper"
(-1498.) A syphilis epidemic sweeps from Naples all over Europe. It is widely reported that
syphilis is brought back from the New World by the Spanish soldiers. Since the Spanish held
Naples when the French invaded, it seems that it is spread into Europe by these invading
French soldiers.
That terrific illustrator and producer of woodcuts, Albrecht Durer* (1471-1528), opens his
own studio in Nuremberg and travels to Italy. He will produce a phenomenal amount of visual
material over his lifetime.
1495 - (or perhaps 1509) we get the English Everyman*, the most enduring and popular of all
morality plays. This one is often still performed.
1496 England tries to get into the exploration of the New World. Henry VII* sends John
Cabot* and his son Sebastian* west, out into the North Atlantic, to find a new route to Asia.
1497 - In England the oldest extant English interlude appears. Henry Medwall* writes a
satire, Fulgens and Lucrece*. These interludes are performed in a neutral space before a
facade at schools, colleges, law student's Inns of Court and, most usually, at noble's
residences. They are ideal for a professional traveling troupe because these plays have a small
cast, usually no more than eight characters.
1497 The English Cabot expedition reaches the coast of North America. Meanwhile the
Portuguese expedition under Vasca Da Gama* finds a sea route (around the southern tip of
Africa) to India and arrives there.
1499 Amerigo Vespucci* sails to South America. His later descriptive writings will lead
Europe to call the Americas by his name. The Swiss are busy establishing their independence.
The Venetian fleet is defeated by the Turks.
One of the results of the Spanish Inquisition* and the zeal of Archbishop Cisneros* is another
book burning he leads in the magnificent libraries of Granada. He burns all Arabic volumes
he can lay his hands on. This marks the end of Arabic scholarship in Spain and makes a lot of
knowledge disappear.
1500 The first commercial colleges are founded in Venice.
A General note on the Portuguese and the new world The Portuguese made a deal with the Spanish (approved by the Spanish pope)
to divide the new world between them on a line of longitude which turns out to
give them Brazil which the Portuguese sailors discover in 1500. There isn't
much gold there so they import a red dyewood (called brazil) which gives the
colony its name.
*********************
A General note on the Spanish and the new world The Spanish gradually land on, claim, establish settlements, enslave, baptize,
spread diseases (especially small-pox) and, in the face of any opposition, kill
off the local inhabitants on the islands, Hispanolo and then Panama. In 1504
Cortez takes Cuba, 1519 he lands on the eastern coast of Mexico. After a while
the Spanish begin to realize they have not reached the east and turn their
attention to exploiting the new world. They hit pay dirt in Mexico where the
Aztecs* suspect the Spanish may be their god (Quetzalcoatl*) returning to
claim his nation. Anyway the Aztecs* have a lot of civil wars of their own and
a good bit of gold and silver. The Spanish minor gentry (hidalgos) flock to this
new trade of being conquistadors (conquerors). By 1526 Pizarro has crossed
the isthmus of Panama to find the Pacific and sails south along the Pacific
coast to discover the other major American power, the Incas* (in 1531.) The
Incas* have tons of gold and the Spanish are well on their way to becoming the
richest and most powerful nation in Europe. In their settlements the Spanish
use the natives as forced labor but these have a tendency to die off so, by 1549,
with the help of the Portuguese (who have been busy looting Africa) the
Spanish start importing African slaves to work sugar cane plantations.
*********************
A Note on Social Stability Through Intermarriage With the beginning of the Renaissance the rulers and leaders of various
countries find that marrying their children to the heirs of other countries is a
productive substitute for going to war. This can be seen in the Spanish ruling
house example where the offspring produced will rule (at different times)
Spain, Portugal, England and the Holy Roman Empire*
The alliances brought about through descendants of Ferdinand and Isabella:
1- Daughter Isabella marries King Emanuel I of Portugal (she dies in 1491 and
he marries Maria (see #4).)
2- Son John marries Margaret of Austria daughter of the Holy Roman
Emperor*
Maximilian I*.
3- Daughter Juana marries Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria son of
the
Holy Roman Emperor* Maximilian I*. They have a son, Charles V*, who will
be
the next Holy Roman Emperor.*
4- Daughter Maria (see #1) marries King Emanuel I of Portugal when he is
widowed.
5- Catherine of Aragon* marries the English Prince of Wales, Arthur, who dies
in 1502. She then marries Henry VIII* and, eventually, produces the future
Mary I*, Queen of England.
1500 - The influence of rising interest in Greece and Rome shows up in Henry Medwall*'s
morality play Nature*, which is mainly informative, philosophical and educational.
By this time almost every town in the Low Countries (Netherlands, etc.) has a organization,
some specific "society" concerned with poetry, music, drama, and performing these plays.
1501 That French army in Italy is still on the move and they enter Rome. Michelangelo* is
busy sculpting "David."
1501 - Europe rediscovers Hroswitha*'s plays. [You might remember that in 959 Hroswitha*,
a Benedictine abbess of Gandershiem in Saxony, writes six original prose Latin comedies in
imitation of Terence*. The subjects are Christian history and morality. It seems likely that
they were actually performed.]
- A number of the Mystery Cycles leave prompt books which are invaluable in providing
information about the productions. One such comes from this date for the production at
Mons*, France.
- A Royal entry* of Katherine of Aragon into London is produced. These are very popular
combination of a triumphal parade, musical entertainment and, sometimes, play performances
(very short plays), all done for the populous of the city. This one is financed by the city
council and the trade unions. No doubt an early advertising effort assisted by the Chamber of
Commerce, good for trade.
1502 In Castile (the part of Spain belonging to Isabella*) the Moors* (those North African
Arab Moslems who ruled Spain for the last 700 years) are required to be baptized or leave
Spain (just like the Jews.)
1503 The Spanish take Naples back from the French.
The fighting doesn't bother Da Vinci* who is busy painting "The Mona Lisa."
In Scotland there is a step toward the eventual union with England as James IV* marries the
Tudor daughter of Henry VII*, Margaret.
Another interesting personality is born, the Frenchman Nostradamus* (d. 1566), who will
become a famous doctor and Astrologer, known through the ages for his predictions.
1504 Isabella* of Castile dies and her daughter Juana is heir to Castile.
Venice sends an embassy to the Sultan of Turkey proposing the construction of a Suez Canal.
This won't get off the ground for quite a while.
1505 In Spain Ferdinand* rules Castile jointly with his daughter (who is insane and married to
Philip of Austria.) She will, however, produce an heir.
Maximilian I* begins reform of the Holy Roman Empire, which he regards as a Hapsburg*
monarchy.
Michelangelo* (1475-1564) goes to Rome to work for the Pope (Julius II.)
1507 - In Paris the morality play Condamnation de Banquet*, by Nicolas de la Chesnaye*
appears in print (and no doubt in production, too.) Full of spirit and profanity, the play deals
with mental and physical hygiene, attacking a range of evils arising from good living. The
primary evil under attack is gluttony and Banquet is sentenced to be hung by Diet.
The morality plays are not restricted to any one class as can be seen in the play Les Enfants de
Maintenant* (the "now-children") which deals with the sons of a baker. This was written for a
student's performance.
1508 - In France, at Poitiers, a religious Cycle play is staged by Jean Bouchet* , the local
public prosecutor. He is even better known to us as an excellent producer of Mystery plays.
He is so good that he will still be in demand in 1532. He also writes a number of sotties and a
useful document on the duties of a director, in which he advocates cultivated diction for the
actors. The production expenses are shared by the Confrerie* (the producing group), the town
council and the participants (guilds and merchants). The production is run by a producer,
meneur de jeu*, who also speaks the prologue and other parts like that. The show is directed
by a magister ludens* or maitre de jeu*(master of play). Sometimes the director is so good

that he gets a contract for a number of years (like a winning football coach.)
1508 Pope Julius II* confirms that the Holy Roman Empire* automatically goes to a German
King.
Working now for the Pope, Michelangelo* starts painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (he
finishes in 1512.)
1508 - The use of the Italian venacular in drama begins at the court of Ferrara with the
production of The Casket* (La Cassaria) by Lodovico Ariosto* (1474-1533). This comedy
deals with Renaissance city life and is based on a Roman plot. The production uses that
terrific perspective drawing (that the Italians began developing back in 1435) in the scenery,
done by Raphael.* Ariosto's* patrons (the d'Este* family) build a temporary theatre in the
classical style influenced by Virtuvius* that will be in use until 1533. The Spanish and
English will translate, perform and adapt both this play and his 1509 play, I suppositi*.
We should note here that in England, under Henry VII,* there is a group of actors called the
Royal Interluders* who are on the King's payroll to participate in court revels. They are also
free to tour for their own profit. There are normally eight of these players, enough to perform
interludes. They become defunct as the theatre changes, but they are the forerunners of later
acting companies in England.
1509 Henry VII* dies and Henry VIII* (he reigns 1509-1547) comes to the throne of
England. He's a great fan of entertainment of all kinds and will start to move the English into
the theatrical Renaissance.
An earthquake destroys Constantinople, but since the Turks own that now nobody in Europe
cares much.
They are busy persecuting Jews in Germany (between the Catholic Inquisitions* and the
sorcery and witchcraft stuff, this becomes widely popular.)
This is the time when the black African slave trade starts with the Spanish. They import labor
to till the sugar cane plantations in the New World.
1510 The Spanish are exploring the American coast as far north as Charleston.
Henry VIII* marries his first wife, Catherine of Aragon* (his brother's widow.)
1511 Pope Julius II* gets Venice and Aragon to join in a Holy League* to drive the French
out of Italy. Since they're fighting the French, Henry VIII* joins the effort.
1512 Copernicus* comes right out and says that the earth and other planets go around the sun
(instead of everything going around the earth as the Church and the ancients believe.)
Religious leaders really don't like this, it goes against their belief that everything (sun, planets,
stars, and all) moves around the earth. This sort of astronomical view often leads proponents
into big trouble, like being tried for heresy.
Brief Consideration of the Range of Plays
1512 - The term masque* is first used to denote a kind of poetic drama.
1512 - In Paris a writer, Pierre Gringoire*, is a member of a political cabaret. He writes the
Play of the Prince of Fools and of the Mother of Fools* to be performed on Shrove Tuesday
[remember? that festival time before Lent?.]
Niccolo Di Bernardo Machiavelli* (1469-1527) - Florence, Italy. Primarily a statesman and
philosopher working for the Medici*, he is best known for his political advice to rulers, The
Prince* (1513), a work still read and its advice still followed today. In theatrical circles,
however, he is equally well-known. He is exiled from his service on suspicion of conspiracy
and turns to writing comedies. In 1513-20 he is writing the most enduringly popular comedy
of the Italian Renaissance, La Mandragola* (a.k.a. The Makdrake Root*). This play is
considered a masterpiece of the commedia erudita*. It is a terrific and funny critical look at
Florentine society with a scheming, greedy priest, gullible husband, gorgeous wife and ardent
lover, all guided and aided by the clever "parasite" (a guy who makes his living off other
people.)
1513 - Another Italian comedy, La Calandria* by Bernardo Dovizida Bibbiena* appears, this
one is based on Plautus*' Menacchmi*.
1513 All that exploration is going full speed ahead. The Portuguese reach China; Ponce de
Leon* discovers Florida; and, Balboa* makes his way across the Isthmus of Panama to see
the Pacific Ocean from a peak in Darien (the current name for Panama).
We should take a moment here to straighten out all these terms the Italians use to identify
their plays:
The commedia erudita* refers to the "learned comedy" the academies are promoting, based on
the models of the Romans but dealing with current city life. Lodovico Ariosto* (1474-1533)
is the first, best, and most influential writers of this form. While he is best known for his epic
poem (Orlando Furioso *, published 1532) his plays influence Spain, England and France;
Commedia dell'Arte* refers to the popular improvised street comedy performed by
professionals.
Both of these kinds of plays were based on:
1- the sacred plays (rappresentazioni sacre*) which include any kind of dramatization suitable
for religious instruction (mystery, miracle, morality, etc.) [note: these are still being done in
France and Germany and will continue to be really big in Spain for another two hundred
years]
2- folk, rustic or peasant plays, especially the debates (contrasti* - these could be domestic
brawls or legal or religious quarrels and disputations) and the May plays (maggi*)
3- and the Latin plays the Humanists were writing in imitation of the ancient Romans.
Sixteenth century Passion Play* performances are played in front of the churches and in
market squares. The director or the producer usually takes the role of the praecursor* who
announces and comments on the plays. All work comes to a stand still (sounds like the Roman
Festivals) and people come in from the surrounding villages where the event has been
announced by a herald.
1514 - The Bozen Passion Play* (in the south Tirol, now the Italian Province of Bolzano) is
done in the Parish church and takes seven days. The author is Vigil Raber*, a writer, stage
and costume designer and director.
1515 - The first Italian tragedy, Sofonisba*, by Giangiorgio Trissino*, is written in blank
verse and based on Greek models instead of Roman. This gives rise to a big controversy as to
which is a better model.
When religious drama starts to be suppressed (at different times and in different places
between 1400 and 1550,) the morality* play becomes Europe's dominant form of religious
drama, especially in England and France.
1515 The Turks are still beating at their neighbors. This time they conquer eastern Anatolia
and Kurdistan.
1516 In Spain Ferdinand II* dies and the throne goes to his grandson, a Hapsburg born in
Flemish Ghent, who can't speak Spanish. This is Archduke Charles of Burgundy and the
Netherlands, now Charles I* of Spain and later to become Charles V* as Holy Roman
Emperor*. This will bring a lot of problems to Spain because he will devote most of his
attention to affairs in the Holy Roman Empire using Spanish wealth to do so.
France gets the right to appoint its own ecclesiastics, instead of leaving it up to the Pope.
1516 - In England John Skelton* writes Magnificence*.
1517 Exports from the New World begin to show up in Europe. Coffee shows up for the first
time.
Charles I (see above) shows up in Spain for the first time since inheriting the throne. He
promptly grants a monopoly of Negro slave trade to Florentine merchants.
Peace is declared between all those parties fighting in Italy (England, France, Spain, the Pope
and the Holy Roman Empire*.)*
Birth Of The Commedia Dell'Arte* Amateur commedia groups are working in cities all over Italy and rapidly
becoming professional. One of the earliest actors and playwrights is Angelo
Beolco* (1502-42) who plays in Venice, Ferrara and Padua during Carnival
time. It's the fashion for these commedia actors to take, as a stage name, the
name of the character they play. Beolco becomes known as Il Ruzzante*, the
gossip. His character is a shrewd, rebellious, talkative young peasant who
speaks in the dialect of Padua.
The various commedia characters will develop with distinctive regional
dialects and characteristics. Beolco's plays are fully written out but this will
change as time goes by and later commedia pieces will be in the form of
scenarios*, an outline of the action. They will include a number of set speeches
which each actor-character has ready to insert in any play at an appropriate
moment.
The real hallmark of the commedia is the use of mime, pantomime and comic
bits [the burla* (plural is burle)* and lazzo* (plural is lazzi.*)] Beolco is
probably the most famous of the early commedia actor-manager-performers.
He writes a number of plays, some of which are still popular today (see
below.)
Burla* is the term used to refer to the commedia comic interlude or practical
joke that usually involves some horseplay. It often develops into an
independent "turn*" practically identical to the "acts" of current circus clown
groups. The terms burlesque* and burletta* come from burle*.
Lazzo* (plural lazzi)* is usually a slight piece of commedia comic mime or
pantomime embellishment by the comic servants. It grows into extensive
individual mime characteristic of particular actors and servant characters. As it
grows in importance and popularity the distinction between lazzi* and burle*
is often blurred and the term lazzi* comes to be used (incorrectly) for both.
The Winds Of Reformation* Begin In Germany In much of the Catholic church, clerics from parish priests through bishops and even the
popes have been drifting into more and more greed, lust and vulgarity. Celibacy becomes rare
and making money seems more important than tending their flocks. As early as 1300 the pope
had developed a neat way of making money by granting a certificate of absolution
(indulgences) which anyone could buy. The indulgence will provide the purchaser with
absolution for any sin they might have committed. Pretty handy item. Gradually a whole
cluster of practices developed in which God presumably rewarded the number of prayers,
pilgrimages, contributions, cults of Saints, relics, and, of course, indulgences. In the late
1400's Pope Sixtus IV* came to grips with that concept of Purgatory* which had developed in
the Middle Ages. He combined Purgatory and penance (doing something to show you were
sorry for sinning) by issuing indulgences that would assure that the deceased could transfer
from Purgatory to Heaven. This meant that not only could you buy your own way into
Heaven, now you could get a transfer for all your departed friends, relatives and loved ones.
Providing, of course, you had enough money. Strangely enough this bothered some of the
Christian faithful.
Ever since the Black Death* (that big bout of bubonic plague that eliminated about half of the
European population back in the 1350s) the lower classes have been getting uppity. They
want more say so in how things are run and they take a dim view of all this immorality and
greed in the church (which runs most of their lives that their rulers don't cover.) If you
remember back in the 1370's there were two different popes simultaneously and that heretical
John Wyclif* (he'd been trying to reform the English church and ends up getting expelled
from his teaching job at Oxford when the London church synod condemns his doctrines)
starts people thinking about church reform. Wyclif had done a lot of writing and some of his
ideas reach Bohemia (down there in Germany) and ring a bell with a theologian named Jan
Hus* who starts preaching reform in Prague. This strikes sparks and leads to a local
revolution which gets Hus* excommunicated in 1410 by his superiors and in 1411 by the
pope. Unfortunately all this religious reform is tangled up with political turmoil and poor
Hus* gets burned at the stake for heresy in 1416. The same fate awaits one of his followers,
Jerome* in 1416. These reform ideas don't go away, they just percolate around Europe for a
century and then erupt in some really big movements.
All of which brings us to the big event that starts the ball rolling all over Europe. A
Dominican preacher named Johann Tetzel* has been licensed by the pope to sell indulgences
(these provide remission of punishment even for sins committed in the future) in Germany. In
the spring of 1517 a lecturer of biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg hears him and
really gets mad.
In October 1517 this lecturer, Martin Luther*, comes out with his 95 theses laying out the
reforms needed in the church. Thanks to the availability of the printing press, the whole thing
gets spread all over Germany and throughout Europe. This will destroy the unity of the
Catholic Church and lead to a total shake-up of the political map of Europe. It will also totally
change the structure and role of theatre.
The Reformation* starts in a very influential part of the world. Luther's part of Europe is a
mess of 65 imperial cities, a patchwork of principalities, duchies and other territories within
the Holy Roman Empire*. Now many of these have a lot of autonomy but the Holy Roman
Emperor* rules all his territory as the Pope's temporal counterpart. So, any grievance against
the Church and the Pope is also against the Emperor. Pretty tricky political situation. It will
get worse.
1518 A guy called Lorens de Gominot (remember that Florentine monopoly granted by Spain
?) gets a license to import 4,000 African slaves to the Spanish American colonies.
1518 Back in Germany Luther* is supposed to be disciplined as a dangerous heretic but his
local ruler, Frederick* of Saxony (one of the largest states in the Holy Roman Empire*) backs
him. Political struggles are coming into the reform debate.
1518 - In Sienna (remember it's under control of Florence) the Commedia dell'Arte* group
known as the Congrega dei Rozzi* is headed by Niccolo Campani* (known under his acting
name as "Strascino*") who appears in one of his own plays before Pope Leo X. In this year
they appear in Lo Strascino* at an Orsini wedding.
At the Court of Ferrara, Lodovico Ariosto* arranges regular performances at the court theatre.
The first printing of Aeschylus* comes out.
1519 Luther is involved in a big public debate and admits he supports the ideas of Jan Hus*.
Cortez* brings Arabian horses from Spain to the North American continent.
1519 Charles I* of Spain (as grandson of Emperor Maximilian I*) becomes Holy Roman
Emperor* as Charles V.* He is crowned at the traditional location, Aix-la-Chapelle. Boy will
this make a difference for Spain. It will also keep him busy fighting French, Italians and
Ottoman Turks.
1520 There are a lot of things going on this year -
Luther* starts publishing his ideas in a big way (24 books and pamphlets in
German) and calls for a general council to look into papal abuses and develop
reform of the clergy. He lays out what will become the basis of Protestantism
(the name comes from the movement of protest against the Catholic Church).
Questions the basis of papal authority Believes in going back to the Bible rather than going by religious historical
development Calls for a priesthood of all believers" Get rid of "indulgences" and pilgrimages Let the clergy marry End religious holidays and Saint's Days Go back to the Bible for who can perform which sacraments Celebrate Mass in the venacular (local common language) and let
people take wine and bread (at the moment only the priest can do this) The Pope starts excommunication proceedings against Luther* and orders his books burnt
(most people don't). Luther really understands the value of the print media and he and his
followers have a mass propaganda going, complete with woodcut illustrations for those who
can't read. Luther* retaliates with a book burning of his own at Wittenberg where he burns the
excommunication Bull and some theology works. [You might observe that the Germans seem
to like book burning, this will show up under Hitler 400 years later.]
This is also the beginning of the Anabaptist* movement in Germany under a guy named
Thomas Munzer* (1489-1525). This Protestant movement (named for their views on the
validity of baptism) emphasizes social and political aspects of religious reform, getting a
really bad name for themselves at times.
The Holy Roman Empire* is full of diverse units, all with their own laws and customs (not to
mention religious controversy) and these are not willing to pay taxes to support the endless
wars. This leads to bankruptcy and Spanish Charles (V,* Holy Roman Emperor*) mortgages
the Spanish gold from the Americas for years to come.
Some of the Hapsburg* brood marry into the ruling houses of Hungary and Austria.
More imports from the Americas reach Europe - this time it's chocolate.
Magellan* (a terrific Portuguese navigator, now working for the Spanish) gets around the
southern tip of South America, through the straits that will bear his name. He heads west, into
the Pacific Ocean.
1520 - The most delightful (and still popular) comedy in Italian is published by that
irrepressible political writer, Niccolo Machiavelli*. As mentioned earlier, it is called The
Mandrake* (Mandragola*), and has original subject matter while making use of the form of
Roman comedy.
1521 Magellan* gets to the Philippines where he is killed. One of his ships, under Sebastiano
del Cano, continues to sail west, on home to Spain, making the first circumnavigation of the
globe.
1521 A Franciscan preacher, Johann Eberlin, publishes pamphlets further
developing Luther*'s views. His stuff includes:
Priest elected by the congregation Priests can also practice trades Stiff penalties for immoral conduct (this will blossom in the "Puritan" (keep
religion pure) movement Get rid of adornment in houses of worship - (the Italians are busy doing just
the opposite) No liturgical business except two priests and they can sing, read and teach only
what is in the Bible.
In the largely autonomous confederation of states that make upSwitzerland, a preacher in
Zurich (Huldrych Zwingli) takes these reformsa step further, and, like the Moslems, insists on
being literal aboutthe second commandment. He gets rid of all "graven images." Back
inGermany some follow suit and throw out statues, pictures and thepriest's robes (just regular
clothes for preachers now.)[This "down with images" business will put a real crimp in
theatre.]
Meanwhile the Turks are moving up the Danube to Belgrade.
1522 Back in Germany, Luther* has to go into hiding where he writes and translates the Bible
into German (incidentally making the Saxon dialect standard for the German language.) This
Bible business is a no-no because the only authorized Bible is the Latin Vulgate (written by
St. Jerome in the fourth century.) Luther's* New Testament is published this year.
Meanwhile the Turks are taking the Isle of Rhodes.
1524 The French are finally thrown out of Italy.
The English court gets to eat their first American turkey.
In Germany the popular religious reform movements are starting. A group calling themselves
the "Heavenly Prophets", led by that Anabaptist* guy named Thomas Munzer*, claims to
interpret the Bible according to the "inner light" which comes directly from God to his chosen
people. [Sounds a lot like our current televangelists.] He claims the end of the world is
coming and that change will come from revolution by the common people. People promptly
begin to revolt in the southern Black Forest. This will spread in fits and starts.
1525 More than two-thirds of the imperial cities in Germany adopt Lutherism*.
Meanwhile, Charles V* becomes the master of Italy using that new high tech weapon,
musketry. He defeats the Swiss as well as the French.
Up in Prussia, Grand Master Albert of the Teutonic Knights turns his domain into the secular
Duchy of Brandenburg with himself as the Duke. The Medieval world is rapidly becoming
transformed into the Renaissance.
In the exploration business a Florentine navigator, Giovanni Da Verrazano*, explores the
coast of North America from Cape Fear (North Carolina) northwards and discovers New York
and Narragansett bays and the Hudson River. (You may remember that we call the Verrazano
Narrows, between Staten Island and Brooklyn, after this guy.)
Over in the East a descendant of Tamerlane* and Genghis Khan* named Babur* is starting a
Mongol incursion into India where Muslim dynasties of Afgan and Turkish peoples are in
control. Only the northwestern Rajputana is still Hindu.
1525 - Back in Italy, Machiavelli* comes out with a more neoclassical comedy, Clizia*, based
on Plautus*' Casina*.
1526 Trading in the East keeps developing and the Portuguese are in New Guniea. Charles V*
gets married to Isabella of Portugal.
The Ottoman Turks under Suleiman I* (the Magnificent) are marching over Hungary with a
disciplined well armed band of janissaries* (from yeni ceri = new force.) They take the
Hungarian capital of Buda and cross the Danube into Pest.
The Mongoloan, Babur,* enters Delhi and continues, over the next four years, to conquer all
of Hindustan only to be chased out again.
1527 Sweden adopts Lutherism*
Charles V*'s (Holy Roman Emperor*) Spanish and German mercenaries' pay hasn't come.
They invade Rome and the Vatican, sacking and pillaging as usual, killing about 4,000. The
Pope is imprisoned and they demolish the old St. Peter's cathedral. Michelangelo* is
commissioned to design a dome for the new one. You may notice that relations between the
Church and the "Holy" Roman Emperor aren't very charitable.
1527 - In England Henry VIII* builds a House of Revels* (inside a palace) to stage court
entertainments like those Italian ones.
1528 Finland adopts Lutherism*.
There are severe outbreaks of plague in England.
Charles V* gives Augsburg merchants the right to colonize Venezuela.
Henry VIII* wants to get a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. This will lead to a lot of
trouble with the Pope.
The Reformation* begins in Scotland.
1528 - The commedia plays La Moschetta* (The Coqutte*) and Il Reduce* (currently
available as Ruzzante Returns From the Wars*) by Angelo Beolco* appear. These plays are
still produced today and are available in several languages.
1529 When the current Holy Roman Emperor*, Charles V*, issues an edict that requires
traditional Catholic worship be restored, six princes and 14 cities issues a protest against it.
They are called the "Protesting Estates" and the term "Protestant*" is now applied to anyone
leaving the Roman Church.
The Lutheran powers in Europe form a Schmalkaldic League for mutual protection against
attack on the grounds of religion.
Over night the political situation in central Europe has changed. The Ottoman Turks advance
as far as Vienna and Charles V* has to compromise on this religion business with the
Germans to get their military help against the Turkish invasion.
The Turks are also marching south against the Shiites* in Baghdad and taking Armenia and
Azerbaijan together with territories from Mesopatamia to the Persian Gulf.
An active pirate named Barbarossa* seizes part of Algiers and Tunis and ravages the coasts of
Italy and Spain. He will become well-known and may rulers will try to hire him to beat up on
their enemies.
1529 - We finally hear about women acting on Italian stages, especially in the professional
companies of the Commedia dell'Arte*.
1530 Despite the fact that he has already been crowned, at Bologna. Pope Clement VII
crowns Charles V* Holy Roman Emperor and King of Italy (which he just conquered.) This
will be the last imperial investiture by a Pope. The meaning of the Holy Roman Empire is
changing from the holy to the secular.
The Portuguese are busy colonizing Brazil.
Charles V* reestablishes the Knights of St. John on Malta under his Genoese Admiral,
Andrea Doria.* (No doubt to help keep the Turks away from Europe.) Meanwhile Suleiman
I* hires that busy pirate named Khayrad-din who becomes known in the west as Barbarossa*
(Redbeard.)
1531 Great waves of superstition follow the appearance of the "Great Comet" (which we will
call Haley's Comet.)
Henry VIII* wants his divorce so much that he breaks with the Roman Church and declares
himself head of the English Church (which will come to be called the Anglican Church.)
1531 Erasmus* publishes the first complete edition of Aristotle*.
1532 Chaucer*'s works are published (remember that he lived and wrote c. 1340-1400.)
The Reformation* begins in France. This will lead to endless "Wars of Religion" and keep
France from advancing on the social and cultural fronts.
A ribald Frenchman, Francois Rabelais*, publishes the first book of his Pantagruel*. He is
known for his broad, racy humor and grotesque invention.
1533 The English playwright John Heywood* (c. 1497- c. 1580) comes out with the landmark
farce Johan, Johan*.
1533 By January of this year Anne Boleyn* is pregnant with Henry VIII*'s child and the
matter of a wedding and producing a legal heir becomes pressing.
Henry VIII* finally divorces (actually this divorce had been started several years earlier but it
isn't legally tidy until May) Catherine of Aragon* and marries (again, he does this secretly in
January but it is validated in May) Anne Boleyn*. This results in his excommunication by the
Pope. In September Elizabeth* is born.
1534 In England, the political possibilities of religious reform aren't lost on Henry VIII* who
wants another annulment from the church and isn't getting it. He takes the easy way out and
breaks away from Rome, creating the Anglican church and taking possession of all that lovely
Catholic church real estate. Henry VIII* institutes the Act of Succession and requires
everyone to take an oath recognizing him as head of the Church in England. Thomas More*
won't take it and is beheaded, providing a terrific character for much later plays.
In Europe the religious reform movement is shifting its emphasis from the need for everybody
to read the Bible (which leads to everyone having their own interpretation of it) to more
discipline and indoctrination in the particular leader's views. The best example of this trend is
Luther* who regards the family as central to Christian life and composes catechisms for
homes and schools to teach a firm foundation in the faith. His views are really Roman in their
view of the father as ruler of the family (paterfamilias.) Fathers are urged to instill the habit of
reciting the Ten Commandments, Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer at meals, on rising
and on going to bed. Luther*'s attitude toward women is pretty tough: it is the duty of all
women to marry and bear children; "A woman does not have complete mastery over herself.
God created her body that she should be with a man and bear and raise children...If women
grow weary or even die while bearing children, that does no harm. Let them bear children to
death, that's what they're here for." This narrows the choices available to women in Lutheran*
states. Divorce becomes harder to obtain. With the catholic nunneries closed there are no
celibate religious vocations left for women. John Leiden* (in Munster, Westphalia) sets up a
"communist state" of Anabaptists*. The rulers don't like this popular government stuff and
quite a lot of fighting is in the future of this part of Europe.
The French explorer, Jacques Cartier,* sails to North America, landing in Labrador.
1535 By this time there is so much Spanish activity in the new world that the crown appoints
a viceroy to Mexico.
In the art business we find Hans Holbein*, the younger, painting everybody who is anybody.
At the moment he is doing Henry VIII*.
Charles V* is very busy fighting the Moslems, capturing Tunis and freeing 20,000 Christian
slaves.
Francois Rabelais* comes out with his second racy book, Gargantua* and Part Two of
Pantagruel*.
1536 Denmark adopts Lutherism* and the Reformation spreads to Norway.
In England Anne Boleyn* is executed for treason, Catherine of Aragon dies (presumably of
natural causes), and Henry VIII* gets a third wife, Jane Seymour*. He begins to dismantle the
vast range of monastic and ecclesiastical property, (376 religious houses are dissolved) getting
very wealthy in the process.
We hear India rubber mentioned for the first time.
Michelangelo* is busy in Rome painting "The Last Judgement" on the wall of the Sistine
Chapel.
1537 Jane Seymour* gives birth to a male heir, (the future Edward VI*) and dies as a result.
Henry VIII* will take his time finding another wife now that he has a male to inherit, in
addition to the two female offspring.
An Italian architect, Sebastiano Serlio*, published six volumes but we will look at him a little
later when he writes something about theatre.
Barbarossa* takes most of Venice's islands and fortresses in the Aegean. The Ottoman Turks
now control the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean and operate in the Red Sea and Indian
Ocean against the Portuguese.
1538 One of the more influential Reformation figures, John Calvin*, is thrown out of
Switzerland and settles in Strasbourg, Austria.
1538 - The wide spread struggle between Protestant and Catholic is reflected in the theatre.
The most forceful spokesman denouncing Catholicism is Thomas Naogeorus* who writes
Pammachius*, dealing with the struggle against the Antichrist (covering more than a thousand
years) and ending with a glorification of Luther as the target of antichristian forces.
A troupe of Commedia Dell'Arte* visits France.
In England John Bale* (1495-1563) (actually he is Bishop of a place in Ireland) writes a
morality history play, King John*, in which John battles the evil forces of the Pope. This one
is a noticeable step forward toward the development of the chronicle play*.
1539 - The Roman Church makes a rule that there can be no production of church plays
without prior sanction by church officials. This pretty well ends any religious drama.
Clever devices for stage effects appear. In Florence they are filling a crystal sphere with water
and lighting it from behind with candles to represent the sun. A guy called Aristotle de San
Gallo* (1481-1551) comes up with this and a number of other clever adaptations of devices
described by Vitruvius* and Pollux*.
1539 - The Low Countries (Netherlands, etc.) are Protestant but Catholic Spain now has
control of them and tries to control the Chambers of Rhetoric*. On this date they require all
plays be regulated by the church officials. The result is that dramatists become more secular
and religious drama disappears.
1539 In England we have the final Act of Parliament dismantling Catholic religious sites. It
includes destruction of religious shrines. All the confiscated gold and artifacts fattens the
King's purse. He is now off and running in the house and palace building business. Henry
VIII* also takes his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves*. This is not a productive marriage, no sex
and no hope for another heir.
Hernando de Soto* (or maybe his first name is Fernando) is discovering Florida (the
Seminoles, of course, already know it is there, they are discovering the Spanish.)
We hear about the first Christmas tree at Strasbourg cathedral.
That public lottery business shows up in France.
A historian named Olaus Magnus* comes out with a map of the world showing some of those
new discoveries and more realistic distances.
1540 Henry VIII* has his marriage with Anne annulled and looks around for somebody
sexier. Meanwhile he declares himself King of Ireland and Head of the Irish Church. The Irish
are still objecting to this.
Over in Switzerland that even more puritanical reformer named John Calvin* (a French
preacher) has his doctrines preached in Geneva and their influence spreads like wildfire to
France and other countries. Trouble is on the way. He is the most dynamic and influential
leader of the Reformation*. He sets up a societal system that channels all the energies of its
subjects into the service of God. Evangelists spread out over Europe winning huge bunches of
converts to this strict discipline of Calvinism*. The system is administered by a hierarchy of
teachers, pastors (responsible for correct doctrine), elders and deacons (to enforce the
doctrine.) Every aspect of civil life is under their control. They abolish taverns and ban
dancing and singing. [They don't take kindly to theatre either.] Geneva becomes known as the
Protestant Rome and wields a more uncompromising authority than the papacy. Church
officials are empowered to inspect all households for backsliders. As different rulers are
recruited, whole populations become Protestant. In order to respond to all this, Pope Paul III*
founds the Society of Jesus*. This is to be a group of militant priests dedicated to propagating
the Catholic faith through education and missionary work. Actually, these guys will be of
some help to the theatre since Catholics like to use it for instructing people.
Over in North America the Spanish are discovering the Grand Canyon (the Navaho and Zuni
Indians are discovering the Spanish and their sheep and horses.)
1540 In Italy the native comedy has become well established.
1541 Henry VIII* takes his fifth wife, Catherine Howard*. This turns out to be another
mistake. She is a little too free with her favors and looses her head. He starts looking for
number six.
In Europe the Reformation is marching on. Calvin* comes back to Geneva and in Scotland a
follower, John Knox*, leads a Calvinist* Reformation. The opposition is working hard and
Loyola* (1491-1556), who planned the Order, is made the first Superior (or General) of the
Society of Jesus*. Later (in 1622) he will be canonized as Saint Ignatius of Loyola*.
Over in America Coronado* is exploring New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and eastern Kansas.
Meanwhile, de Soto* is discovering the Mississippi River. (The local inhabitants are
discovering European diseases, horses, sheep, and Catholicism.)
1541 An Italian called Giambattista Giraldi Cinthio* (1504-1574) comes up with a revenge
tragedy (based, of course, on the Senecan revenge stuff), Orbecche*. He continues with two
others in this vein, Dido* and Cleopatra*. But already the market place is affecting
playwrighting and he turns to writing serious plays with happy endings because that's what
audiences like.
1541-42 - In Paris they are doing cycles of the Apostle and Old Testament plays. There is
also, in Bourges, a forty-day cycle of Apostle Plays.
1542 The time of the conquistadors is over and Spain appoints another viceroy, this time to
Peru.
Mary* becomes the Queen of Scots at age six days.
In the East the first European, Antonio da Mota*, shows up in Japan. The Jesuits* aren't far
behind. The King of Portugal sends Francis Xavier* (c. 1506-1552 and in 1622 he will
become a Saint, who helps found the Jesuit order and comes to be called the "Apostle of the
Indies") to Goa (India) as a missionary. He will work his way around India, converting as he
goes, and arrive in Japan in seven years.
1543 Henry VIII* takes his sixth (and last) wife, Catherine Parr*. She is a really good caretaker, not only tending the ailing King but educating the three royal heirs in the range of
Renaissance literature and knowledge.
In the East the Portuguese land in Japan bringing firearms with them.
A Spanish navigator (Blascoda Garay) gives Charles V* a design for a steamboat. Nothing
happens on this idea. Charles is busy celebrating the marriage of his son, Philip* to Maria of
Portugal.
The first Protestants are burned by the Spanish Inquisition*.
The French invite Barbarossa* to Marseilles to help them in joint operations against the Duke
of Savoy. Barbarossa* sacks the Duke's town of Nice. In the spring he hits Barcelona, Spain
and the costal towns of Tuscany (Italy), Naples as well as the island of Sicily on his way
home to Istanbul.
1543 - That clever scenic effects man, San Gallo*, solves the problem of quickly shifting
scenes by using the Greek device, the periaktoi* (a three sided thing that pivots on a central
pole to show three different scenes) as described in those classical books.
1544 The Spanish discover silver mines in Peru. More money to send home.
1545 - Henry VIII* is so taken with entertainment and organization that he creates an Office
of Revels* to organize entertainments in that Revels building (see 1527) and other places.
This office is under the office of the Lord Chamberlain and is to regulate, finance and produce
plays and other entertainments for the court. The office, through its main positions, the Master
of Revels* and his Master Clerk*, will also regulate theatre throughout England. The first
permanent appointment as Master is a Sir Thomas Cawarden*.
Theatrical Scenery Takes Off
The perspective theatre of Italy is the origin of our contemporary theatre production. Between
1500 and 1650 all the pieces are developed, tested and put together. The auditorium, the stage,
the settings, the curtain and proscenium, the musicians' pit and the basic systems of moving
scenery and of lighting an indoor performance. All these come to us out of the merchant
princes' desire for spectacle and the academies' study and experimentation and are done by
architects, because they are the ones in charge of court entertainment. We will look at various
advances as they occur. The first big step is the work of a guy named Serlio.
1545 - The second part of Sebastiano Serlio* (1475-1554)'s Architettura* is published. Serlio
has been sending his books to Francis I* and this leads to an invitation to work at
Fontainebleau*, which helps spread all this Italian set design to France. Over the next 75
years this book will be translated and published in French, Dutch, Latin, German, Spanish and
English. This is a real gem (still available today) because it is the first published Renaissance
work on theatre practice and the illustrations are widely copied and reprinted in other works
on architecture. He shows perspective illustrations of comic, tragic and satyric scenes the way
he figures Vitruvius* described them. Actually he put together ideas from a lot of other artists
who were working on this perspective business. He is influenced especially by Baldassare
Peruzzi* (1481-1537) because he studies with him at Rome, and Peruzzi is a big time
designer of these perspective sets. Serlio's illustrations will also be reprinted in future editions
of Vitruvius*. The satyric scene will become the standard for the pastoral scenery. Keep in
mind that all this "architecture" business is still very temporary and is designed to be set up in
a big hall in a palace or out in the Duke's (or prince, or whatever) park. This dictates some
particular things:
Everything (especially the point of view of the perspective) is designed around
the Royal Seat. That, of course, is where the guy who pays the bills sits to see
the show. It is opposite the center of the stage on a raised platform. The rest of
the audience seating makes up a semi-circle facing the stage and rises in tiers.
There is a flat open space for the orchestra and a raised stage. But, in order to
get the perspective scene, the back part of the stage is raked upward (from
which we get the references for actors to cross up stage), leaving only a pretty
narrow front part where the players can move on the level. Vitruvius* had put
a colonnade behind the audience to improve the acoustics. The Italians turn
this idea into balconies. Later these balconies (which become audience boxes
and balconies) will dominate the theatre audience.
Serlio* describes how to light the stage with lamps and candles. He also introduces colored
light where a reflective basin goes behind the light and glass globes of colored water goes in
front, tinting the light in a variety of colors. Later the English will really take to this colored
light business. At this point in time all these theatres are temporary and go up and down for
festive occasions.
1545 The Roman Catholic church calls the Council of Trent*. They have to several pressing
problems to address. There is a great need to restore 1563 order and authority to the ministry.
They have been trying to reform things since 1480 when the Spanish had founded their
Inquisition* (to root out heresy) and in Italy in 1534 when the Pope (Paul III*) began new
policies to combat the Reformation. They meet to try to deal with all this Protestant uproar
and humanist tendency, and, especially with the mushrooming output of all these printing
presses. They reserve to the Church of Rome the sole right to interpret the Bible. They want to
reassert control over all expressions of church doctrine. In order to accomplish their aims they
reinstitute the Inquisition* and produce a list of works the church wants to suppress (Index
Expurgatoris*).
Wouldn't you know, the minute we get a printing press we also get censorship.
1546 - In Germany Hans Sachs* (1494-1576) is also writing a tragedy, Lisabetta* . He is an
interesting, active and prolific theatre person and we will hear a good deal more about his
various accomplishments as time goes by. [He will even show up as the hero of a Wagnerian*
opera in 1868, Die Meistersinger von Nurenberg*.] He has been writing since about 1518,
mostly for moral betterment since he is one of the first writers to become a follower of Martin
Luther*. As an author he is best known for his Carnival Plays (fastnachtsspeil) where his
homespun humor and folksy daily life depictions shine. He trains his actors and directs his
own shows, emerging as the first well known actor-author-manager in Germany.
1546 Ivan IV* is crowned Czar of Russia in Moscow. Otherwise, not much is going on there.
1546 - In Italy Pietro Aretino* (1492-1556) writes his only tragedy, Orazio*. He has been
doing mediocre comedies which may have contributed to some of the plays of Ben Jonson
and Moliere. This tragedy is reputed to be the best of its time.
1547 Remember that Lutheran* league? Well, Charles* (V, the Holy Roman Emperor*)
defeats them and they rebuild their military strength by making an alliance with France's
Henry II*. The Protestant civil unrest will spread to France.
Spain now has a Council of the Indies to rule all that territory in the Americas.
In England Henry VIII* dies and his only son, Edward VI* comes to the throne (with a Lord
Protector to run things, since he is only ten.)
That peculiar French doctor, Nostradamus* (1503-1566), is writing his first predictions.
The French declare that the French language (rather than Latin) is now the official language
of the French authorities.
1547 - At Valenciennes* they are doing the Mystere de la Passion* which takes twenty-five
days. They have to put together a cooperative society to produce it. The members raise the
money and share the profits it brings in. * These platform stages, especially at Valenciennes*,
have their mansions arranged so that God is at the north or the extreme left. All other
mansions are in the order of their use ending with Hell at the south or the extreme right.
SECRETS* - These special effects are helped out by all that stuff Serlio* wrote and the
Italians had been developing for court productions which is now reprinted in Vitruvius* book
on architecture. The scenic effects are getting more spectacular every day and the conducteurs
de secret* are in charge. Some of them get so big that, as at Mons*, they have to have two,
along with master mechanics and seventeen assistants just to run the Hell mansion. It has a
Hell's mouth* that opens and closes.
There are terrific mechanical effects, what with clouds carrying angels down and bringing
saints up, rain falling, tongues of flame lighting up Hell and trap doors in use all over. Other
effects, called transformations, (or secrets) make people appear and disappear, Lot's wife
turns into a pillar of salt, Moses' staff sprouts leaves and branches, water turns into wine and
loaves and fishes magically appear.
1547 By this time the production of religious plays in Italy is pretty much down to zero. The
Inquisition* put a real damper on religious theatre things.
1548 Mary* Queen of Scots (now aged 6) gets engaged to the French Dauphin (that means
he's next in line for the throne) and goes to France.
In Mexico the silver mines are being mined by the Spanish. There is lots more money there.
1548 They get the message in France, too, and the production of religious plays is prohibited
in Paris. This makes it really difficult for that group with the Paris monopoly on producing
plays (remember the Confrerie de la Passion* that started work in 1402?). They've just built
and opened a new theatre, the Hotel de Bourgogne*, the first theatre building constructed
since the Romans. It's not very fancy and we will be talking more about it when we get to the
French. The brotherhood is not about to give up this valuable property, so they just rent it out
to secular professional groups, a vital step to later French theatre. In Spain religious plays
continue to be produced since the Inquisition* has control over theology and the how, when,
where and what of religious play production.
1549 At this time Court Jesters* begin to appear in Europe. These are usually dwarfs and
cripples.
Ivan IV* calls the first ever national assembly in Russia.
1550 By this time there are at least 100,000 Europeans in the Americas where European
diseases decimate the locals. The local population of Mexico drops from c. 25 million to c.
2.5 million while in Peru it plummets from c. 9 million down to 1.3 million.
In the art field, Titian* is painting and Benvenuto Cellini* is busy sculpting.
Spain is at the peak of her political and economic power and will stay that way until the end
of the century.
1550 - Also at this time everybody is reading Italian plays in France and England. The
Commedia dell'Arte* is really popular with the general public in Italy and will soon begin
touring all over Europe. The influence of both the plays and performances will show up as
theatre develops around Europe.
In Italy it is the beginning of early Baroque*; we'll talk more about this later.
In England we see a five-act English comedy, Ralph Roister Doister* by Nicholas Udall* (c.
1505-56.)
*********************
Afterword
Italy has been the first stop in touring the Renaissance because, chronologically, they were
ready to embrace the newly rediscovered humanistic knowledge of Greece and Rome. Not
only was Italy intellectually ready, it was financially and politically ready to explore and build
on the theatrical heritage being uncovered. Since the center of the Catholic Church is in Italy,
the rising tide of Protestanism does not upset the relatively stable, merchantile dominated
cities and political entities of the Italian peninsula.
The exciting theatrical discoveries and experimentations in Italy are rapidly spread throughout
the European culture and specialists in architecture and design come to the Italian innovators
to study. Each major European culture (Spanish, English, French, Danish and German) moves
forward into the Renaissance at their own pace and in their own way, but always looking to
Italy as the leader in theatrical research and design.
The geographical position of Spain as a peninsula, and the intense Catholic nature of the
Spanish culture, combine with Spain's close political relation to Italy (they own Naples, for
example) to provide the second stop on the Renaissance tour.
Act II, ii, 393-396
next Chap8
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CHAPTER EIGHT
The Spanish Renaissance
1550-1587
Continues The Golden Age of Theatre
Introduction
It is useful at this time to take a look at the Spanish theatre. The Italians are up and running,
influencing everybody interested in theatre. The Spanish are well into the riches of the New
World and eager to imitate the Italians in cultural things. Europe and England are still too
busy with political and religious matters to make any real theatrical strides.
Spanish theatre is unique in the Renaissance in that they continue religious theatre as the main
theatrical form. The Spanish Inquisition's control over theology makes it possible to continue
religious plays while other Catholic areas give up trying to police the content of religious
theatre and simply forbid its production. In those areas which are becoming Protestant,
religious theatre is forbidden as a relic of Catholicism. Spain, alone, will continue the practice
for another two hundred years. [Note: they are eventually prohibited by royal edict in 1765.]
In terms of plays and playwrights, the Spanish Golden Age occurs simultaneously with the
English. Other than this temporal similarity there are distinct differences. There are three
internationally famous Spanish writers of this period, Cervantes*, Lope de Vega*, Calderon*,
the last two of whom are major playwrights. No doubt the international position of Spain at
this time influenced the spread of their writers' reputations.
The auto sacramental* (plural is autos sacramentales, we will refer to them as autos) is the
Spanish term for their religious play. The earliest known auto in Spanish comes from about
1200 (Auto de los reyes magos.) By the 16th century it reaches its full glory in the works of
the major playwrights Lope de Vega* and Calderon* {see below.) The content of autos is a
dramatic restatement of the tenets of the Catholic faith, especially the preoccupations and
ideals of the Counter-Reformation. In Spain it is performed for many religious holidays but it
forms the centerpiece of the Corpus Christi* festival.
[The Corpus Christi feast (Latin for Body of Christ) was instituted in 1264 to honor the "Real
Presence" of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist (the "giving of thanks" at a meal and especially the
Last Supper.) The date usually falls in June because it is celebrated on the Thursday after
Trinity Sunday which is the Sunday after Pentecost which is fifty days after Passover which is
the Hebrew festival celebrating the night the destroyer "passed over" the houses of the faithful
as it destroyed the first born of Egypt.]
The Corpus Christi* festival was introduced into Spain in 1314. By the last half of the
fifteenth century there are records of paid performers engaged for the celebrations for the
event.
The form of the auto* includes its use of elaborate allegory. It is a short piece performed
originally on a scaffold before the church. Later they are performed on flat moveable wagons
(carros*) where scenery can be put up and fancy effects installed.
Another distinct difference between the Spanish theatre and the English is that in Spain (as in
Italy) women appear on the stage in professional companies from the very beginning.
Significant hallmarks of Spanish theatre which they share with the English are:
1- their disregard for the Italianate slavish imitation of Roman play forms and Roman
criterion for playwrighting;
2- their use of existing space for presenting plays. In Spain this existing space is found in the
corrales*. These are basically the yards of houses where the stage is in the rear and the bulk of
the audience stands in the courtyard. The windows of the houses surrounding the yard are
used as boxes for more distinguished viewers. In the beginning there is no roof. [In England
they will use inn yards very similar to the corrales.] One of the major differences between
Spanish and English performance spaces is that in Spain there are a number of major cities.
Consequently the Spanish theatrical companies are constantly traveling from place to place. In
England, theatre is centered in London and the companies only travel when they are barred
from performance in town (usually due to the plague.)
Background for Spanish Theatre Secular theatre, as well as religious, has also been visible in parts of Spain since the thirteenth
century as has some form of acting as a profession. It may be that the strong Roman presence
in Spain helped maintain performance activities through the Dark Ages when the rest of
Europe was repeatedly assaulted by successions of barbarian invasions. At any rate it
becomes a going concern as the Spanish forces eliminate the Moors. With the discovery of the
New World and all that lovely new money coming in, Court productions and popular theatre
boom. Secular performances are forbidden on Church holidays (the number of these will
increase over the next hundred years) but can be held two or three days a week, plus, of
course, during the big Corpus Christi* festival.
1492 - Juan del Encina* (1469-c. 1539), Spanish playwright, is working for the Duke of Alba
as a playwright, musician, actor and director of entertainments. He has studied in Italy and
brings the Italian style of writing pastoral dialogues to his Spanish pieces. He is one of the
three men credited with founding the Spanish Renaissance theatre.
1499 - Earliest surviving edition of Fernando de Rojas'*s (c. 1465-1541) Celestina* (La
comedia de Calisto y Melibea). This is an unperformed 16 act dialogue novel which he will
rewrite in 1502 with 21 acts and a new Miles Gloriosus* character. This work is immensely
popular with at least 60 reprints in the sixteenth century alone. It will be translated into
English in 1631 (as The Spanish Bawd*). Playwright will borrow plots, scenes, characters and
speeches from it as well as writing sequels to it.
1502 - Gil Vicente* (c. 1465-c. 1536), a Portuguese playwright, is the Court poet for the next
34 years. He is the second of the three men credited with founding the Spanish Renaissance
theatre. He writes in a number of dramatic forms, eclogues, moralities, farces, allegorical
spectacles and romantic plays. We have 44 of his works extant, 17 in Portuguese and 11 in
Spanish. The rest are in both languages. He is inventive, developing these forms from several
earlier types and excelling in the morality play and romantic comedy. His last 12 years are
devoted to really extravagant secular allegorical fantasies full of uninhibited satire and
lyricism.
1513 - An influential Spanish playwright, Bartolome de Torres Naharro* (c. 1485 - c. 1524) is
writing in Rome where he did most of his plays. He is regarded as the third (and last) of the
three founders of the Spanish Renaissance theatre. He writes novelesque plays dealing with
the conflicts of love and honor.
1552 - Back in France they are coming up with the first classical (this means it is modeled on
Seneca*) tragedy, Cleopatre Captive*, by Etinne Jodelle* (1532-73). It is really very dreary
but it's a beginning for the French.
1552 - We find the first really important Spanish theatrical figure who puts it all together.
Lope de Rueda* (c. 1505-65) is a professional actor-manager and author, contracting with
Valladolid (the capital of Spain at the moment) to be the pageant master for the Farce
Festival. Spanish theatre is often regarded as beginning with his career. His plays are
performed by his own company as he tours all over Spain playing in inns and courtyards for
the public and in palaces and the great houses of the nobility. He writes mainly in natural,
idiomatic prose, making fun of the manners of his day. He comes up with an indigenous kind
of play, the paso*, which is a short comic interlude. His best known one is called The Olives*.
Like everybody else he also writes plays based on Italian originals. [He and Shakespeare*
used the same two original Italian plays. This is the usual thing for Renaissance playwrights.]
As an actor his characterizations of comic fools and rascals are so well regarded that they
encourage an Italian Commedia dell'Arte* troupe to come to Spain. His company includes
women and is usually made up of thirteen or fourteen people in addition to the actor-authormanager.
Meanwhile, events go on 1552 In Eastern Europe Russia's Ivan IV* is busy conquering Kazan and Astrakan.
1553 Things are not too stable in England as Edward VI* dies and Lady Jane Grey* is Queen
for nine days. Then Mary I* comes to the throne. You may remember that she is the daughter
of the Spanish Catherine of Aragon* and strongly Catholic in Anglican England. She wants to
reverse the religious changes in England. Things get so messy under her rule that we know
her better as Bloody Mary*.
1553 - Over in Germany Hans Sachs* continues his busy career writing Tristan und Isolde*.
The college playwrights in England are beginning to get into the theatre business and the
second full-length English comedy, Gammer Gurton's Needle* is produced at Christ's
College, Cambridge. They are not sure who the author is (a Mr. S) but assume it is William
Stevenson* who's a fellow there.
1554 In England Mary I* puts Elizabeth* in the tower and marries Philip* of Spain, son of
Charles V* (Holy Roman Emperor*). The English really don't like this.
1555 The Peace of Augsburg* (ending that fight between Charles and the Protestants) gives
all German governments the right to choose Lutheran* or Catholic and all their subjects have
to agree or move elsewhere. However, this is only a momentary lull. Eventually the problem
will crop up again and become the Thirty Years War*. In other parts of Europe religious
arguments are motivating civil wars and these are moving into international conflicts.
Tobacco begins to move from the Americas to Spain.
The French found a colony in the Americas on the Bay of Rio de Janerio.
Charles V* (Holy Roman Emperor*), sick of endless struggle, abdicates his rights to his
domains in the Netherlands, Italy and Spain in favor of his son, Philip II*.
In the area of art Michelangelo* is sculpting the Pieta*.
Big trade in slaves between Africa and Mexico.
The English establish the Muscovy Company to trade with Ivan IV* in Russia. They also send
out trading ventures to Africa and the Orient, going in search of the legendary southern
continent "Terra australis incognits" (as you can tell nobody's stumbled on Australia yet.)
Unfortunately for them, one of their traders, John Hawkins*' ships, are captured. They will
keep on doing this trade stuff wherever they get a toehold.
In India the Mongols return to Delhi and gradually take northern India (Bengal.)
1555 - Back in Italy the Olympic Academy of Vicenza* is founded to study Greek drama. At
the beginning they use temporary stages, but soon they will work up to a building of their
own.
In Mantua the second big name (Italian, naturally) in theatrical design, Leone di Somi* (15271592) is in charge of theatrical entertainment. In about 1556 he writes a marvelous treatise on
production and staging called Four Dialogues Concerning Theatrical Performance*. This
work deals with playwrighting, acting, lighting, costume and staging. It is the first work
dealing with acting* and a real landmark. He is interested in setting the mood of scenes by
how much light is used, bright for most things and darkening when tragedy strikes.
Those Jesuits* are getting into the theatre business with a Jesuit play, Euripus*, by Lewis
Brecht* in Vienna. They will lay some useful foundations for the eventual German and
Austrian theatre.
1556 Charles V* (Holy Roman Emperor*) retires to a Spanish monastery in Yuste and gives
the Holy Roman Empire* to his brother Ferdinand I*.
In England a printing monopoly is granted to the Stationer's company of London.
In Russia Ivan IV* takes Astrakhan and opens the Volga trade route to the Caspian Sea.
1557 State bankruptcy in Spain and France and a really bad influenza epidemic all over
Europe.
1557 - The most famous German playwright, Hans Sachs* (1494 - 1576) rewrites the may
play into a Shrovetide Schwank*. He is a shoemaker and a master singer who turned out 198
dramatic works, including The Wandering Scholar* and the Exorcist*. With a company of
amateur actors he presents plays twice a week between twelfth night and Lent. This year he
becomes the leader of the Nuremberg Mastersingers*.
In England we have the first English play to be censored, Sack-Full of Newes*.
1558 Finally,with the death of Mary I*, Elizabeth I* comes to the English throne and we enter
the Elizabethan* period.
In the art world Brueghel* (Pieter the Elder, c. 1520-1569) is busy painting. He will also
father three generations of painters.
1558 - Elizabeth I*, having seen how much trouble religious controversy caused in England,
forbids production of religious plays.
1559 - In England one the earliest organized continuing company of actors is founded.
Because of the English laws requiring actors to be under patronage, they are organized as the
players of Lord Robert Dudley. He will become an Earl later (1564) and then they will be
under the name by which they are best known, The Earl of Leicester's Men*.
1559 Francis II* ascends the throne of France and his wife, Mary* Queen of Scots, calls
herself Queen of England, but nobody much cares. In England Elizabeth I* is busy governing.
She puts out an Act of Supremacy making her the head of the Church, an Act of Uniformity
setting out approved forms of worship (trying to balance the Catholics and the Puritans) with
a new English prayer book and making church attendance compulsory. She reforms the
currency, ends hostilities with France and Scotland, and requires all able-bodied men not
specifically permitted to engage in other trades to work the land. This affects traveling players
who are "masterless" men. Remember that at this time England is an agrarian society with
special emphasis on wool and textiles.
1560 By the 1560's only Italy, Spain and Portugal are not affected by the rising tide of the
Reformation* which is going hand in hand with rising nationalism and interest in local
heritage.
Madrid becomes the capital of Spain.
The Church of Scotland (Presbyterian*) is founded and the reform parliament abolishes papal
authority and forbids the celebration of mass.
In England there is the beginning of Puritanism* which will make things increasingly difficult
for the theatre.
In France Francis II* dies and his widow, Mary* Queen of Scots, tries to go home. She is
becoming more and more a political pawn. Things will go from bad to worse for her.
1560 - The modern innovation of the proscenium arch* shows up for the first time in a
drawing made around this date by Bartolomeo Neroni* (c. 1500-1571.) It is still a temporary
thing.
1561 Remember those Teutonic knights who became secularized in Prussia? Well, now those
in the Baltic States do the same thing.
The first Calvinist* refugees from Flanders settle in England.
Tulips from the Near East arrive in Europe for the first time.
The forerunners of hand grenades are made for the first time.
1561 - In England the first surviving English historical tragedy Gorboduc* is written by a
couple of students of the Inner Temple (Thomas Norton* 1532-84 and Thomas Sackville*
1536-1608.) The play is performed before Elizabeth I* on New Year's Day.
In the Low Countries the Chambers of Rhetoric* reach the peak of lavishness of their
productions at a contest in Antwerp* lasting a month. At this event there are nine societies
involved in the competition. They use twenty-three triumphal chariots and 197 pageant
wagons. It takes fifteen days to perform the plays and cost the city a bundle, over and above
the money allotted by the societies.
There is a posthumous publication of an influential critical work called Poetics* (just like
everybody elses) by Julius Caesar Scaliger* (c. 1484-1558). This is the first work (written in
Latin) to attempt to standardize literary form and content. As usual it misinterprets Aristotle.
It also influences generations of European playwrights.
1562 An interesting year. Elizabeth I* is seriously ill with small pox. There is plague in Paris.
The first War of Religion* starts in France with the massacre of 1200 Huguenots in Vassy.
The first great violin maker, Gasparo Bertolotti*, is doing his thing in Italy.
In the New World the French try to colonize Florida and the slave business is picking up as
John Hawkins* begins slave trade between Guinea and the West Indies.
Ivan IV* of Russia tries to take over Livonia and ends up at war with Poland, Lithuania,
Sweden and Denmark.
Lope de Vega*
1562 - Born this year in Madrid, Lope de Vega* (1562-1635) is undoubtedly the most prolific
playwright of all times. He claims to have written 1500 plays and between 400-500 are extant.
His dialogue is in ingenious, lyrical verse regarded as superb. He is referred to as the
consolidator of the commercial theatre in Spain. In his own time Lope* is referred to as the
lion of Madrid, the "Phenix of Spain" and men came from many other countries to see him
and his work. He will continue working to the age of seventy-three. He is a precocious child,
claiming to have written a four act play at the age of twelve. He becomes a page for the
Bishop of Carthagena and attends the University at Alcala de Henares. When he leaves the
University he goes to work for a theatre manager in Madrid. Taking time off from the theatre
he also will go on the Expedition to the Azores (1583.) By the time he returns he is becoming
known as a dramatist and poet. After traveling to Valencia, carrying off and marrying the
daughter of a former offical of Madrid he will join the Armada (see below.)
CONTENT: Lope's* works involve the traditional content of the world of the Spanish
catholic with its view of society as involving the king, nobles and peasants with their behavior
governed by the four "humours"; the Thomist* systematic conceptions of Catholic moral
theology and the highly stylized Spanish code of honour.
Because his writings are embedded in, and reflective of this culture, they do not have the
universality that Shakespeare*'s will reveal. Despite their cultural limitations some of his
works are still popular today. In his own day he is clearly the most prominent playwright in
Europe. Today he is not widely known except for his work The Sheep Well* which is often
performed. His critical work, The New Art of Writing Plays in This Age*, however, is of
great importance. It speaks for the majority of the playwrights and the public of this time. He
advocates writing to please the audience rather than following any classical guidelines.
Social Problems
1563 The first War of Religion* ends but many more will follow, which helps explain why
we don't hear much about French theatre during this time. There is the beginning of a general
outbreak of plague in Europe with over 20,000 dead in England.
The first printing press finally comes to Russia.
The Catholic Counter Reformation is busy in Bavaria.
The term "Puritan*" is first used in England.
1564 - In England two important playwrights are born: Christopher Marlowe* and William
Shakespeare*.
1564 The Counter Reformation spreads to Poland. In India Babur*.s grandson, Akbar* opens
a house of worship where all faiths can argue and discuss (including the Portugese Jesuits.)
1565 - Madrid, now the capital of Spain, grants a charitable organization, the Confradia de la
Sagrada Passion*, the privilege of coming up with a place to put on all comedias given in the
city. They come up with three squares (or corrales.)
In Italy we find the first mention of a public theatre building in Venice. More of these will
show up but they don't have the innovative influence of the buildings the Academies will
build. Venice is big on public theatre because it is not run by nobles and a monarch and has a
strong, rich, middle class.
1565 John Hawkins* not only takes slaves to the New World, he brings sweet potatoes and
tobacco to England.
Things are getting economically less than glorious in Italy, what with those trade routes to the
East closed by the Turks and Spain,
Portugal and England doing all that New World business and tootling around Africa to the
East. They are losing out on the "first in trade" race. They try to make up for it with an all out
effort in the arts and learning business.
Mary* Queen of Scots marries Henry (Lord Darnley) and rapidly becomes pregnant.
1566 Mary* Queen of Scots gives birth to a son, the future James VI* of Scotland and,
eventually, James I of England.
Nostradamus dies and in the Netherlands there are Calvinist* riots.
Suleiman I* dies. We might take a moment here to look at the work of this leader of the
Ottoman Turks who brought the Ottoman Empire* to its height. Not only does he vastly
enlarge the territory he started with, he also makes enormous cultural improvements. He
builds up the capital of Istanbul* with everything from enlarged aqueducts (for new fountains
and baths) to a great complex of hospitals, schools, hostels, medical and theological colleges,
public soup kitchens and gardens. Under his there is a blossoming of Ottoman architecture
and decorative arts. Writing thrives in history, geography, biography and poetry. Suleiman I*
develops and spreads a system of laws in civil and criminal codes with a uniform system of
justice throughout the Empire. He is called the law giver. He has planned a canal to join the
Volga and the Danube in order to check the Russian expansion under Ivan the Terrible* and
to improve connections with the Uzbek Turks in central Asia and enable the Turkish fleet to
reach the Caspian Sea and threaten Persia from the north.
1566 - The earliest English prose comedy, The Supposes*, by Geroge Gascoigne* is
presented before the English Court. His play is taken from that popular 1509 play, I
suppositi*, by Ariosto*.
In Florence they have one of those elaborate processions (descended from the Roman
triumph*) called trionfi*. This one is called A Masque of the Genealogy of the Gods and is
designed by Giorgio Vasari* (1511-1574). There are a lot of drawings of this one that still
survive. It includes 21 pageant wagons and 392 mythological figures in gorgeous costumes.
People watch these processions from balconies, palace galleries, courtyards and town squares.
1567 In the Netherlands nationalist and Protestant fervor combine in revolt against Catholic
Spain. The Duke of Alba is sent in as military governor and begins a reign of terror.
In France the Protestants (Calvinists who will are called Huguenots) are fighting with the
Catholics. This will continue for a long while.
Mary* Queen of Scots' husband, Lord Darnley dies and she is kidnapped by the Earl of
Bothwell*. The political pawn is now going from bad to worse. She abdicates in favor of her
infant son.
Titian* is still painting.
In Russia there are disastrous weather and harvests this year and next.
In the New World Francis Drake* is sailing with John Hawkins* and the South American
Indians are being decimated by typhoid fever.
1568 Mary* Queen of Scots flees Scotland to England. This is not a good idea.
1568 - The first public theatre presentation takes place in Madrid.
1569 - Those clever constructions for changing scenes, periaktoi*, are used in Florence.
1569 In Lisbon (Portugal) there is an epidemic of carbuncular fever and 40,000 die.
In northern England there is a rebellion (this happens frequently) but down in London they are
having a public lottery.
A Flemish geographer, Gerhardus Mercator*, comes out with his Cosmographia* and a map
of the world for navigational use. The kind of projection he uses for this map bears his name
ever since.
Only 70 people return for those ships of John Hawkins* that were captured by the Spanish.
This makes the English mad and they (especially Francis Drake*) set out to plunder Spanish
ships in the Caribbean.
The Russians finally prevent the Turks from building that canal and reach a peace between the
Ottoman Empire* and Russia.
1570 -By this date the English cycle plays are dead.
Lodovico Castelvetro* (1505-71) comes out with his demand (in his Poetica d'Aristotle*) that
Aristotelian* principles be introduced into contemporary drama. This work, while crude and
inaccurate in its interpretation of Aristotle *, is best known for establishing the notion of the
"three Unities" and will influence playwrighting for centuries.
1570 There is a lot of dynastic marrying going on making Hapsburg* alliances. Charles XI*
of France marries Elizabeth, and Philip II* of Spain (widower of Bloody Mary*) marries his
fourth wife, Anne of Austria. Both women are daughters of Maximillian II*, the Hapsburg
Holy Roman Emperor*. He needs all the friends and relatives he can get to protect his Empire
because the aggressive Turks are busy sacking Nicosia and Cyprus and declaring war on
Venice.
The Spanish take the Phillipines which finally gives them a foothold in the East.
Russia now has severe plague. Peasants who survive flee to the eastern frontier.
1571 The Turkish fleet is defeated by the Austrians in the Gulf of Patrus at Lepanto
(Cervantes* fought at this battle and mentions it in his Don Quixote de la Mancha*.)
England has been losing money by selling their wool to the Low Countries (who are currently
in considerable civil turmoil) where it is turned into finished cloth so they enact an Act of
Parliament forbidding the export of wool from England, hoping to do their own cloth making.
Titian* is still painting.
1572 The infamous St. Bartholomew's Day's Massacre* (August 24, they kill 2,000) of the
Huguenots in France helps bring to an end the year-long fourth French War of Religion* and
amnesty for the Huguenots.
The English Parliament demands the execution of Mary* Queen of Scots.
The Dutch War of Independence (from the Hapsburgs*) begins.
At this time England is having trade troubles because of the wars in Europe (especially the
Spanish blockade at Antwerp) and the Spanish interference with English merchant vessels
between the North Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar. Because of this the English merchants start
seriously looking west to the Americas.
1572 - In England another famous playwright, Ben Jonson* (1572-1637), is born.

1572 - This year the matter of actors' patrons is further stiffened by requiring that the patron
must be no lower in degree then a baron. This means that any company of actors in England
must be under the patronage of a "peer." (This didn't mean that the peer pays them, just that
they are organized under his patronage. They are free to seek employment wherever it's legal.
Let's take a moment here to clear up this English Peerage business. There are
two relevant parts. First, the term peer dates from the Magna Carta when
people were guaranteed the right to be tried by a jury of their "peers", that is
people of their own social station. The second is an out growth of the feudal
system in which "peer" came to mean the tenant-in-chief who held his land
directly from the crown. Gradually the English system developed the
hereditary nobility (where the title descends in the family line) into five levels
of "peers": duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. These are the "peers"
who make up the hereditary House of Lords, the upper house of the English
parliament. The peerage is somewhat different in every country but only the
English really affects the theatre.
1573 Remember that Pastoral* play business? Well it peaks in popularity about now when an
Italian named Toquato Tasso* comes out with Amita*. One of the two most admired and
imitated pastoral plays (we'll get the other one in a minute), it impresses all Europe.
1574 - The Spanish build a theatre in the Corral de la Pacheca* with a roof covering the stage
and sides of the patio. There is also an awning for the rest of the patio. The theatre is built at
the insistence of a company of Italian players who use this playing space.
James Burbage* (c. 1530-97) gets a licence to open a theatre in London but it will take him
two years to get it built.
1575 There is an active theatre space in Spanish Seville, the Corral de Don Juan*.
There is State bankruptcy in Spain despite the fact that Spain gets one-fifth of all the
Americas' silver and gold.
1576 - Finally the first theatre to be built in England opens, called, appropriately enough the
Theatre*. James Burbage* built it and the Leicester's Men* (later to be called Oxford's Men*)
are playing there.
One of those old monasteries appropriated by the crown, Blackfriars*, (which is in London)
has been used, in part, as a storage place for costumes and properties for Court
entertainments. This year the master of the choir boys at Windsor adapts part of the building
as a theatre for the boys productions.
1576 If you remember the Spanish king, Philip II*, inherited the Netherlands as well as Spain.
All that rebellion among the Dutch leads the Spanish to sack Antwerp. This doesn't help its
reputation as the most important international port.
1577 In England the Holinshed Chronicles* (a neat history that will help Shakespeare do his
history plays) is published.
In France they are busy with the 6th War of Religion*.

In the world of art El Greco* and Rubens* are painting.
And, in the exploration business, Francis Drake* leaves England on a voyage to South
America and on into the Pacific and around the world.
Down in Italy a woman is born who will show up in theatrical tragedy later as a tragic
heroine, Beatrice Cenci* (1577-99.)
1577 - A second theatre, The Curtain*, opens outside London.
1578 - Another corral is built in Seville, and later, a third. With the increasing number of
theatres in cities around Spain, the number of professional actors also rises.
1579 Francis Drake* gets into the Pacific and up the west coast to claim New Albion (in
California) for England.
Spain invades Portugal.
The Ottoman Turks* have established diplomatic relations and granted commercial privileges
to England because they both hate Spain. Meanwhile the Turks* are expanding in Georgia
(Russia), Yemen and Morocco.
1579 - Spain gets another permanent theatre this year, the Corral de la Cruz*. These
permanent theatre are additions to the use of the corrales. There are people in England who
are busy opposing theatres, too. As the Protestant movement spreads we will hear more from
them. This year we have a guy called Stephen Gosson* writing The School of Abuse*
1580 Spain and Portugal become linked again (Philip II* inherits Portugal) and we see the
first empire on which the sun never sets. They dominate the Persian Gulf and the west coast
of India (through Portugal) as well as the Americas and the Holy Roman Empire. They will
retain much of their colonial empire into the mess with Napoleon in the early nineteenth
century.
The French are occupied with the 7th War of Religion*.
There is an earthquake in London and Francis Drake* returns to England and a knighthood
from his trip around the world. Meanwhile the English subdue some rebellious Catholics in
the north, this makes the Pope excommunicate Elizabeth I* and that gives Philip II* of Spain
a good excuse to start plotting to replace her with Mary* Queen of Scots (remember she is
descended from the sister of Elizabeth's father.) This won't do her any good.
1580 - In Italy the Olympic Academy of Vicenza* starts building an influential theatre
building, the Teatro Olimpico*. It is the oldest surviving Renaissance theatre. The architect,
Andrea Palladio* (1518-1580), who designed it, dies before it's completion and Vincenzo
Scamozzi* (1552-1616) finishes it up. It looks like a reconstruction of a Roman theatre except
it is inside. It will be more useful for that new opera form than for the theatre.
In England we have what will later be known as the last performance of a miracle play (in
Coventry*.)
1581 In Italy there is an exceptional man of science, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), busy
studying and experimenting.
1581 - Despite those religious wars, the French court is fascinated with this dance business.
The Ballet Comique de la Reyne* is performed at court and somebody named Coroso* writes
a treatise on dance technique, Il Ballerino*. In England Geroge Peele* writes a pastoral play
and Shakespeare* gets married to Anne Hathaway.
1582 - Spain gets still another permanent theatre this year, the Corral del Principe*.
1582 Calendar Reform The Julian* calendar (put in effect by Julius Caesar* in 46 B.C.) has resulted in
a noticeable difference between what the calendar says and the solar year. To
fix this the Pope Gregory XIII* orders a calendar reform which cuts ten days
out of the present year (October 5 becomes October 15) and provides that there
will be no leap year day added to years divisible by 100 except those divisible
by 400. (That means that the year 2000 will have its extra leap year day.) The
Gregorian calendar* is adopted by all the Christian nations except England and
Russia. England won't adopt it until 1752 and Russia holds out until 1918. The
error in this calendar won't really bother us until we have accumulated a full
day by the year 3,3000. However, this calendar reform really messes up the
process of keeping records. We find some people making the change
retroactively and others leaving old dates as they were. So, keep in mind that
the dates you will find in various sources differ for a number of reasons. First,
there are the obvious differences between when a play is written, when it is
performed first and when it is published for the first time. Second, there are
cases of inaccurate record keeping, typographical errors and mistakes. Third,
we have the differences brought about by the calendar changes. These affect
works dated in the last ten days of the year. These may now be dated as
occurring in the following year. Keep these problem in mind when you find
date discrepancies. We have tried to provide those dates that are generally
agreed upon.
1582 The English are eager to get an overseas empire too and they send expeditions to
Mesopatamia, India and the Persian Gulf.
In India Akbar* announces a new faith (Divine Faith) which is a synthesis of Hindu, Christian
and Moslem, but it doesn't fly.
The Russian Orthodox Church breaks from the Greek and no longer recognizes the authority
of the Greek Patriarch.
1583 The English set up a colony in New Foundland (Canada.)
The Turks* are beating the Persians and still fighting Austria but their technological progress
is declining and the Europeans are forging ahead. In the Ottoman Empire* inflation is rife,
there is an interior state of anarchy, corruption is widespread and able leaders have
disappeared.
1583 - In England the Queen's Company* (Queen Elizabeth's Men) of players is formed in
London when the Master of Revels*, Edmund Tilney*, gets sent around the country to pick a
company for her majesty. The members are drawn from a number of currently successful
troupes, especially Leicester's Men*.
Another prompt book is available from the Mystery Cycle production at Lucerne*, France.
In Italy Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola* (1507-1573) comes out with another one of those
useful publications, The Two Roles of Perspective Practice*. In this he writes at some length
about periaktoi* and how you can make them with from two to six sides.
1584 Russian colonists defeat the Tartar tribes and take over much of Siberia. Ivan IV*, better
known as Ivan the Terrible, dies and his son, Fyodor gives most of his powers to his brotherin-law, Boris Godunov* (c. 1551-1605). We will find Boris turning up as the subject of
Russian theatre and opera.
The Englishman, Sir Walter Raleigh* (he spelled it Ralegh), finds Virginia and annexes it for
England.
1584 - This year Miguel de Cervantes* Saavedra (1547-1616), better known as just
Cervantes*, begins writing plays. He is probably the best known Spanish writer today, more
for his novels (especially Don Quixote de la Mancha*, 16045 Part I) than for his thirty plays.
Of these plays only eight comedias and eight extremes survive. Fortunately he also wrote at
length about the plays, productions and playwrights of his time in Spain, providing us with a
vivid picture of the theatrical world of his time.
1584 - At the Blackfriars* theatre in London John Lyly* (c. 1554-1606) puts on his
Campaspe*, a pastoral. Lyly writes exclusively for court tastes and his plays are performed by
Boy's Companies* (we'll go into this a little later.)
1585 - In Spain this is the year when Lope de Vega* (1562-1635) begins to write for the
stage. He is far and away the most popular Spanish writer for the stage. We talked about the
content of his plays in the introduction and we will look at his best known play later when it
appears but this is a good time to consider the man. De Vega made a big splash in everthing
he did and he did just about everything. He will participate as a military man in the upcoming
Spanish Armada *, work as secretary to a nobleman, participate in a number of businesses
and, in 1614, become a priest. Perhaps this last profession clashes most with his best known
quality of being constantly involved in love affairs. He is usually described as flamboyant,
which may be an understatement. Unlike most of the Spanish playwrights he is not primarily
a company manager, nor is he an actor. He claims he wrote an unbelievable number of plays
(between 15,000 and 18,000) and that this number includes 483 comedias*. The rest are
autos*, and entremeses*.
The full-length plays, comedias, come in two major kinds:
1- Capa y espada*, or the cape and sword, dealing with men of minor nobility -
2- legendary plays referred to as teatro, ruido (noise) or cuepro (corpse)

acording to the primary subject matter concerning rulers, saints, mythological
or noble characters doing things in far away places and times.
These full-length plays are introduced with a prologue (loa*) and between the
acts the entremeses* (interludes*) are performed. These interludes are short
sketches, usually topical and may indlude songs. These will gradually grow
into short farces (by 1650.) The prologues varied from simple monologues
(like the English versions) to short dramatic sketches.
1585 In this conflict between Spain and the Netherlands Elizabeth I* takes the Netherlands
under her protection. What with all those problems in Antwerp, they loose their international
importance to the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Philip II* of Spain decides to work on
invading England.
Other Current Spanish Playwrights
Lope de Vega* is not writing in isolation and many of his comtemporaries are very well
known at this time. We no longer hear much about them but the best known are:
Guillen de Castro y Bellvis* (1569-1631) - a friend of de Vega and best known for his play,
Las Mocedades del Cid* or The Youthful Adventures of the Cid which will provide the basis
for the great French playwright, Corneille*'s play, Le Cid*. He also dramatizes parts of Don
Quixote* by Cervantes*.
Tirso de Molina* (c. 1584-1648) - a friar who writes about 400 plays (we have about 80 now)
before the Council of Castile makes him give it up (in 1625.) He is best known now for El
Burlador de Sevilla* (The Trickster of Seville) which provides the first theatrical work of the
Don Juan* story.
Juan Ruiz de Alarcon* (c. 1581-1639) - a government worker born in Mexico who writes
about thirty plays. He is a lot picker about the quality of his plays which deal mostly with
court life in Madrid. He does more with characterization and moral sentiment than his
contemporaries.
In Italy, at Vincenza, the Teatro Olimpico* finally opens with a production of Oedipus Rex*
designed by Angelo Ingegneri*. There is enough information preserved about this production
to recreate it today.
In England the famous actor, Edward Allyen* (1566-1626) becomes head of the Lord
Chamberlain's Men* who are currently touring with the Lord Admiral's Men*. William
Shakespeare* (1564-1616) leaves his home in Stratford* headed for London theatre.
1586 - This year marks the beginning of Kabuki* theatre in Japan but nobody in Europe
knows it.
This year also brings official licensing of women on the stage in Spain.
1587 Mary* Queen of Scots is finally executed.
There are Portuguese missionaries throughout Japan.

The English send a colonizing group to Virginia (remember Jamestown?) but it vanishes so
they look to Ireland for room to colonize.
1588 The Spanish Armada* - This is the turning point for relations between England and
Spain. The Spanish have had enough of English interference and opposition what with that
support of the rebel Dutch, excursions and colonial aspirations in the New World, opposing
the Counter Reformation and generally being a thorn in their side. The Spanish decide to
invade England with an army from the Netherlands and the Spanish fleet from Cadiz (which
Francis Drake* made a terrific dent in the year before.) After several setbacks the Spanish
Armada* gets under way in July with some 131 big ships and many small ones. From
Plymouth the English spot the Spanish coming through the English Channel and the 80 ships
of the English fleet sail out to meet them. What with greater maneuverability and bigger guns,
the English drive them into a spot where they can send fire ships among them. This leads to a
chase in which all of the Spanish ships are damaged. The Spanish try to sail around the British
Isles through the North Sea, running into storms and wrecking on the various coasts of
Norway, Scotland and Ireland. They limp home having lost 63 ships to England's none.
Spanish prestige and power are damaged beyond repair and Spain never recovers. From here
on out the English are upwardly mobile in the international power game. A boost in national
pride and economy is also a boost for the English theatre.
*******************************
Afterword
With the defeat of the Spanish Armada,* the English firmly take their place in the
Renaissance. The Spanish theatre continues to blossom, but the English theatre really begins
to take off. For this reason we will move to England. The remaining Spanish theatre will
appear chronologically as it happens. Keep in mind that the last great Spanish Renaissance
playwright hasn't even bee born yet (Pedro Calderon* de la Barca (1600-81), better known as
Calderon*.)
next Chap9
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CHAPTER NINE
The English Renaissance
1588-1629
Continues The Golden Age of Theatre

Introduction With the defeat of the Spanish Armada England is ready to move fully into the Renaissance.
They have, of course, been moving in this direction all along, but now we will now try to
bring English theatre into focus. While the Spanish theatre comes out of the coherent world of
the Spanish catholic, English theatre has more diverse roots. In addition to the classical
literary heritage of Greece and Rome, the religious drama and various European theatrical
efforts, the English also have a strong theatrical heritage from their folk drama.
[There is a certain problem in establishing accurate dates and references since
there will be frequent recurrences of the plague (the Bubonic plague, of the
type that caused the medieval "Black Death") and an extensive fire which
burns much of London and most of the theatrical records. The worst plague
year (1665) is followed by the fire (1666). This catastrophe does not occur for
a while yet, but it certainly affects the records available for this period.]
Background for English Theatre
FOLK DRAMA The general background lies in centuries of folk drama which include the May Game (Robin
of the Wood, etc.); Song Dances (Here We Come Gathering Knots, where "knots" means a
bunch of flowers); Sword Dances (which embodied the conflict of winter and spring); and,
Morris Dances (sexy encounters); Mummers (which include historical-mythical enactments
such as St. George and the Dragon which was played as late as 1863).
Another background is the civil pageantry found all over but especially in London. These
roots are supplemented by the Renaissance learning evident in the early amateur playwrights
of the universities and Inns of Court (lawyers and law students.)
BOY'S COMPANIES* Entertainment for the court and the upper classes has been provided for centuries by the
companies of choirboys of the major churches: St. George's Chapel*, Windsor, Chapel
Royal*, and St. Paul's*. These Boy's Companies* grew out of song and grammar schools
attached to various cathedrals. When England began producing Miracle* plays the boys were
given more acting activities. Their success is due to various Masters who expanded the
activities of their groups. Since they were always expected to entertain the court and did not
need to be commercially successful, these companies had an edge over the rising professional
adult companies. The actual participants in these Boy's Companies were drawn from the
schools and choirs, that is, not all choir boys were also actors. As the Elizabethan* period
progresses patrons take on companies of boys and the number expands beyond those
associated with the great cathedral schools.
ADULT COMPANIES The professional companies of adult actors are under the patronage of peers and are known by
their titles (as in the Lord Chamberlain's Men) so it becomes very confusing when the actual
people who hold the titles change. Here we are mainly concerned with those major companies
whose actors and playwrights dominate this period.
INTERLUDERS As the Medieval period blends into the Renaissance the main adult professional acting groups
are performing Interludes*. These actors are descendants of the minstrels of the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries. These guys had become a powerful trade union keeping free-lancers
out. They did a little bit of everything; they were singers and instrumentalists, acrobats,
jugglers and conjurers, impersonators and story-tellers. With the rise of the printing press their
employment as story-tellers began to decline and the impersonator, or actor, part becomes
more relevant. It is out of this talent pool that the early acting companies are formed. As early
as 1482 at least two peers* have recorded troupes (Richard, Duke of Gloucester and the Earl
of Essex.) This business of having a patron is necessary because there are a bunch of legal
problems in being a "masterless" man. However, having professional acting companies
doesn't do much good without really good plays, which brings us to the next component.
SCHOLAR DRAMATISTS When the Italian research and publications reach the attention of the English academics they
start coming out with new kinds of plays. As we mentioned in passing the comedies Ralph
Roister Doister* by Nicholas Udall* and Gammer Gurton's Needle* were written and
performed in schools in the 1550's. These were followed by attempts at tragedy (Gorboduc*,
for example) by law students, but that wasn't very popular. More popular are the Chronicle
Plays* that come throughout the second half of the sixteenth century. Soon the rewards
available to University writers from the theatre tempt more authors to try their luck at
playwriting. Coming out of Cambridge and Oxford, five men in particular influence the great
dramatists who will follow; these University writers are:
John Lyly* (c. 1553-1606) authors seven plays and a number of semi-dramatic
court entertainments during the height of Elizabeth's* reign. Both as an author
of how to do it (Euphues*) and by the example of his plays he pushes balance
and clarity in the use of dialogue, strongly affecting Shakespeare.
Robert Greene* (c. 1560-92), a dramatist, poet, novelist and pamphleteer, he is
versatile, prolific and fluent. Best known for George s Greene* (c. 1590),
Orlando Furioso* (c. 1591) and Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay* (c. 1589), he
wrote (or co-wrote) about fourteen plays ranging from comedy to pomp,
carnage and hell-fire revivalism.
Thomas Lodge* (1567-1601) is mainly a collaborator on plays except for his
own The Wounds of Civil War* (c. 1588) based on Roman sources and
pointing out English parallels.
George Peele* (1558-1596) is also a versatile and prolific playwright and
collaborator in at least seventeen plays and numerous entertainments. He helps
write (with Greene and Lodge) early versions of plays that will later be
developed by Shakespeare, especially The Troublesome Reign of King John*
(c. 1588), The Taming of A Shrew* (c. 1589), King Leir* (c. 1590), and The
True Tragedy of Richard III* (c. 1591.)
Thomas Nashe* (1567-1601) is mainly a battling journalist but collaborates

with Marlowe* on two of his four plays as well as writing poems, satires and
pamphlets.
Christopher Marlowe* (1564-93) is a man of outspoken opinions and an
avowed atheist. Educated at Cambridge, Marlowe* may have seen military
service in the Netherlands, certainly traveled abroad, may have been a
government spy and died in a tavern brawl. During his short career he launches
English tragedy.
MASTER OF REVELS* Since Henry VIII* established a permanent office in 1545, the Master of Revels* has been in
charge of all pageantry and entertainment for the ruler. This grows to include storage and
maintenance of costumes and properties as well as employment and supplies for the
production of specific entertainment events. Detailed accounts are kept and these records
provide a wealth of information about theatre in England. The Master of Revels* soon (in
1581) comes to be the official Censor of Plays. This means that all scripts must be submitted
to him (for a fee) for his approval before the play can be performed anywhere in England. The
censorship powers are part of the Crown's response to Puritan* objections and an effort to
protect actors as well.
MASQUES* By the time we reach the reign of Elizabeth I* the court fun and games of Mumming and
Disguising have become the Masque*. Essentially produced for a particular occasion and
performed by amateurs, it is often accompanied by an ante-masque* (or anti-masque) done by
professionals. The main emphasis is upon the scenic effects and costumes, with music, dance
and recitation. As we get to the practitioners (Ben Jonson* and Inigo Jones*) who make it into
an art, we will discuss it at greater length.
PERFORMANCE SPACES Prior to the construction of the first theatre building (the Theatre* in 1576,) plays were
performed in public inn-yards and private halls. Inns in London which frequently have their
yards converted for performing plays include the Red Lion*, the Bull*, the Bell Yard*, the
Cross Keys* and the Bel Savage*. [The Boar's Head* may also have been an inn or it may
have been a playhouse in Whitechapel outside the city.] Obviously these temporary quarters
are inadequate for regular use but they have the advantage of being in the city. Another
location in town, the Red Bull*, becomes known as a "drama house." Whether this is also an
inn is unclear; it is used for performances in the seventeenth century.
Unlike the Italian and Spanish forms of government, the English are more democratic, at least
in the sense that the sovereign does not have complete control. The nobility and especially the
city of London have extensive powers. Ever since King John* was forced to sign the Magna
Carta*, granting part of his authority to the Barons of England, there have been various power
centers. The city of London has its own very strong power base in historical precedent and in
the merchantile power of the major port and trade center of the island. The civic authorities in
London are basically conservative, and sensitive to the right-wing moral objections of the
Protestants, they are intolerant of play-acting and other entertainments and unlikely to
approve the construction of playhouses inside the city's walls (yes, London still has the feudal
city walls and gates at this time.) Outside the city gates is an area referred to as the
"Liberties," which are beyond the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor of London. The former
church lands, confiscated by Henry VIII* when he broke with the Catholic Church, are crown
lands and beyond the jurisdiction of the City of London, even though, geographically, they are
within the City walls.
The location of the Theatre*, outside the gates, is on land that had been a Benedictine priory
north of Bishops-gate entrance into the city. The following year (1577) a second playhouse
(the Curtain*) opens close by the first. Others follow, some too far out to be successful, two
(the Rose* in 1588 and the Swan* in 1596) go up on the south bank of the Thames. The best
known playhouse, (to us) the Globe*, is constructed from the timbers of Theatre* in 1599. In
the same year land is leased for the Fortune*. Later the Hope* (1614) goes up the year after
the Globe is accidently burned. These playhouses are, like the Spanish corrales, without roofs
for the audience in the "pit." The final step in English theatre buildings is seen in the various
attempts to provide a playhouse with a roof. The Masters of Boy's Companies* are the first to
achieve an indoor theatre by leasing two floors at Blackfriars* (another one-time monastary)
and turning the upper floor into a "Private House" for performances. This is hardly necessary
since the whole area of Blackfriars is a "liberty" within the city and the Lord Mayor has no
authority there. James Burbage* acquires a lease for another part of Blackfriars*, then dies,
and his sons inherit the first professional indoor theatre in England. It remains in use by
various companies (and with some oppression from the city) as a "private" theatre until the
general closing of theatres in 1642. Next comes a private theatre at Whitefriars* (1608) used
by boy's companies. Salisbury Court* (1629) houses both boys and adult companies and the
Cockpit* (or Phoenix*) (1616) which is adapted as a playhouse, wrecked and restored (hence
the Phoenix* name) seems to be used exclusively by adult companies. These, then, comprise
the playhouses that will provide the main locations for the Golden Age of English theatre.
Sources Of English Playwrighting
While Greek and Latin plays were set in either comedy or tragedy forms which dictated plot,
characters and language, the plays of the Spanish and particularly the English Renaissance
show a wider range. Two of the major sources for English plots, characters and form come
from The Chronicle Play* and the The Broadsheet Drama*.
The Chronicle Play* - involves historical (or pseudo-historical) events. With wider use of the
printing press historical writings proliferate and become available to dramatists. Plays in this
category fall into four broad groups:
Historical-legendary deals with English doings before accurate histories
were being written. These include plays like Gorboduc*, The Misfortunes of
Arthur* and The History of King Leir and His Three Daughters* (c. 1590).
Historical proper picks up on known historical figures and events. These
include a number of early plays dealing with rulers of England that will
provide raw material for Shakespeare* (such as King Johan* by Bishop Bale,
c. 1550) as well as European historical events (such as Tamburlaine*.) Plays in
this category often have trouble with the censor since they lend themselves to
political bias and activism.
Biographical plays also come under special scrutiny from the censor if they
deal with people of political significance. These tend to come slightly later
than the historical proper plays and allow the dramatist to explore a particular
character rather than centering on a range of events.
Popular legendary goes back to early folk drama (such as the mummers and
their St. George.) This category includes Robin Hood dramas, tales of
magicians and other folk characters.
The Broadsheet Drama* - tends to be tragic dramas of domestic and popular events. These
show up after the use of broadsheets printed and distributed to spread local news. The plays
make use of famous scandals and crimes and usually are murder plays. In many ways these
plays are suprisingly similar to their soap opera descendents current today. The best examples
of the type are the anonymous Arden of Feversham* (c. 1591), A Yorkshire Tragedy* (c.
1606) and A Warning for Fair Women* (c. 1599.)
Cooperative Playwrighting At this point in history we need to be reminded that there is no such thing as copyright and
plagiarism is the done thing. Everybody who writes plays (as well as other forms of writing)
makes use of anything and everything available. Playwrights sell their plays to performing
companies which then "own" the production rights as long as they can hang on to them. They
usually have only one copy of the plays (the prompt copy in the hands of the book-keeper)
with a few scrolls for the players. Play-doctoring usually pays more than simply writing a
play and selling it to a company. The actor who can fix up an old play is in big demand when
he is on salary or a share owner of the company. This is the case for Shakespeare* and other
successful playwrights of this period. (Unlike the Spanish playwrights who can make a good
living writing a lot and selling the results to religious as well as secular production groups.)
By and large a play is not regarded as literature and the last thing a company wants is to have
one of their plays printed because then it would be available for the use of other producers.
However, a lot of pirating goes on and garbled versions of plays that are performed do get
into print. We can see this in the early publications of Shakespeare*'s plays in the Quarto*
form (this refers to the size of the page used, they take a sheet of paper and fold it in two for a
folio, in fourths for a quarto, and in eighths for an octavo.) For example the First Quarto of
Hamlet* is two thousand lines long while the Second Quarto is nearly four thousand. With a
popular play (such as this) the company may publish the work themselves after pirated
editions have already appeared.
At This Point In English Theatre
PURITANISM AND THE THEATRE The theatre had been under growing attack from the more militant elements of the religious
Reformation who come to be known as Puritans. The City (of London) and the Privy Council
finds it useful to let the theatre take the heat. The main controversy is between the religious
elements that object to what they perceive as the temptations of the Devil (all the arts) and the
Court's desire for entertainment and international status as patron of the arts. The problem is
further complicated by the matter of money. Puritans object to governmental expenditures
(which they fund in the taxes they pay) for the "charms of Satan." For the Puritans, any
agreeable emotion that does not obviously come direct from God is evil. This puts the theatre
in the position of being a tool of the Devil. Political Puritanism continues to work against the
theatre until it finally succeeds in the Civil War. From 1577 on there are increasing verbal
attacks in print and even on the stage, which are met, from time to time, by "defenses" and
"apologies" from main-stream playwrights.
1587 - The first company of English players abroad shows up touring in Germany. Back in
England we find The Spanish Tragedy* by Thomas Kyd* (c. 1588-94), full of revenge, blood,
ghosts and passionate blank verse. It is a stunning success and the first great part for that up
and coming actor, Edward Allyen*. This play starts the theatrical ball rolling. Kyd* is the
dominant theatrical influence for the great playwrights currently rising in the theatre. The
style will come to be known as the Elizabethan tragedy of blood. Hardly anything is known
about Kyd* and, although he may have written a number of other plays, only one other is
positively known to be his (Pompey the Great also known as Cornelia*, 1594.)
Next we find the first great play of the English Renaissance, Tamburlaine* the Great, Part I
(Part II will show up in a year or so) by Christopher Marlowe.
* [Note: the most recent revival of this play was in 1976.] Marlowe* is twentythree and out to sweep "trumpery" from the tragic stage. His major weapon is
the mighty iambic line [the poetic unaccented, accented "foot" which best suits
the English language, especially in units of five (iambic pentameter).]
This play reveals the English poetic drama in an integrated form with the full assimilation of
the Senecan metrical form into what has come to be called the "mighty line." This production
has the advantage of being produced by the Admiral's Men* with Edward Allyen* in the title
role. It is a knock-out success and is revived off and on for over fifty years.
This particular moment when a language develops a dramatic voice of its own seems to occur
in every country at some definite time in its development. When a playwright emerges who
gives voice to this use of language a surge of great playwrighting follows. We will see this in
other countries. There is little doubt that Shakespeare* (as well as all other English tragic
playwrights) is influenced by productions of Marlowe*'s plays.
The other event of importance to the English stage is that Inigo Jones* (1573-1652) starts
studying to be an architect. We'll hear a good deal more about him later.
Meanwhile, events go on EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION BY THE ENGLISH Ever since the Eastern trade routes were cut by the Turks all European powers have been
scrambling for ways to reach those spices and other goodies in China, Japan and India. The
Portuguese are busy with their way around Africa, followed closely by the Spanish finding
their way around South America. Both these Iberian countries [that peninsula sticking out of
Europe into the Atlantic is called the Iberian peninsula] have the state finance their explorers
and colonists. This is not, however, the English way. As the currently most democratic
country in the world, the English prefer private enterprise (where they can keep the profits) to
government finance (where the people still have to pay the costs but state keeps the profits)
for such activities. Once the Spanish Armada is defeated the English will embark on
exploration and colonization with a zeal and determination unmatched by their competitors.
Three forces will drive this activity (two of them powered by the desire for lots of money.)
The first force is the need for a passage to those Eastern markets. Since
those Iberians have the current monopoly on the African and South American
routes, the English (and the French) are looking for a Northwest Passage
around or through that still undefined North American land.
The second force at work is the belief that Britain is overcrowded and needs
"plantations" or colonies in which to put the surplus poor population. These
plantations, it is hoped, will become richly productive sources of various raw
materials needed back home.
The third force is more private, but encouraged by the government. This
concerns the religious diversity spreading throughout Britain and causing
social and political unrest. Remember that England is now officially Anglican.
This distresses the remaining Catholics. Then there is the spread and
proliferation of various Protestant sects. England is home to a rising tide of
Puritans* who want to purify the Anglican Church rituals and accouterments.
The State Church would much rather send these religious dissenters off
somewhere than deal with them at home. (The French will also find this a
viable thing to do). We will go into this religious stuff a little later in more
detail.
1588-1590 - Christopher Marlowe* comes out with more stunning successes, (the exact dates
of when they were written is a little fuzzy) The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus*, The Jew of
Malta*, and Edward II*. These plays also continue to be produced until the theatres are closed
in 1642.
In Italy, at Sabbionetta*, the guy who finished the Teatro Olimpico, Vincenzo Scamozzi*
(1552-1616) builds a small theatre that will set the style for the main developmental line of
buildings for play production.
A lot of English criticism appears about now. Despite all that religious warfare in France we
hear about some French provincial troupes touring.
1589 Galileo* is now a professor of mathematics at Pisa.
The first Bourbon* king of France, Henry IV*, comes to the throne.
1589 - In Florence under the de'Medici,* the talented architect and supervisor of
entertainments, Bernardo Buontalenti* (1536-1608) is doing his finest work. (He does this job
for almost sixty years.) This particular spectacular is in celebration of a marriage and runs for
a solid month including an elaborate water procession (naumachia*) on the Arno River, lots
of comedies and intermezzi. One of the indoor spectacles imitates the ones on real water and
has such things as a mythological figure moving through the fake waves on a shell with
dolphins and Tritons. This indoor show has a ship with twenty sailors and a guy in the crow's
nest singing songs while the dolphins dance below. Later Buontalenti's pupil, Giulio Parigi*
(1570-1635), will teach the Englishman, Inigo Jones*, how to do all this stuff.
1590 In England - this is a year of disastrous harvests, art, on the other hand, is blooming and
Puritans* (who are strictly anti-art) object. There is population overcrowding and the gulf
between rich and poor widens. Food prices keep rising and the ranks of the poor are swelled
by the unemployed. All this increases the number and kind of laws enacted to fund
workhouses, cope with paupers and vagrants, and leads, eventually, to plans to establish
colonies in the New World. In Ireland resistance has been growing in reaction to English
colonization there and this year the Irish revolt under Hugh O'Neil*, the Earl of Tyrone.
In India Akbar* takes more territory (Sind, Baluchistan, Kandahar, Kasmir) and makes the
Hindu Kush (that huge mountain range) the frontier between his Indian empire and territory
of the other Mongols.
1590 - In Italy we get to that second really popular Pastoral* play, The Faithful Shepherd*, by
Giambattista Guarini*. The Italian Commedia dell'Arte* company, I Accesi*, begins
activities.
In Portugal theatres are closed frequently.
Adult Companies - 1590'S
In England the Golden Age of Theatre is up and running. We might take a moment here to get
an overview of theatre at this point in time. There are several important major theatre
companies and a number of minor ones. Two things are confusing for us about the companies.
First are the names they go by. Remember that they have to have the patronage of a peer and
are usually known by that patron's title. Of course the guy holding the title may die and
somebody else inherits, or he may be given another title or be referred to by his position with
the government. This changes the name of the theatrical troupe. [Remember back in 1576 we
mentioned the Leicester's Men* later to be called Oxford's Men*?] The second confusing
aspect is that the major playwrights and actors move from one company to another.
[Remember in 1583 we had the Queen's Company* (Queen Elizabeth's Men) formed in
London with members drawn from a number of currently successful troupes, especially
Leicester's Men.] Consequently following the career of a particular actor or playwright is a
little like playing leap-frog, but we will try to make it as clear as possible. There are three
companies worth remembering at this time:
THE LORD ADMIRAL'S MEN* - This was the most famous troupe in the 1580's with
playwright Christopher Marlowe* and the exceptional actor Edward Allyen*. As we move
into the 1590's this company is still the most popular because of superstar actor Allyen*. In
the first two or three years of the '90's it's likely that Shakespeare* is acting with them.
THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S MEN* - When the plague interrupts the London season in
1592 they tour and in 1593 a number of the peers (including the Admiral) die and troupes
break up and reorganize under other patronage. Most of the best actors (Allyen*, Will Kemp*
the comedian, Richard Burbage*, the tragic actor) and Shakespeare* put together a new
company with Lord Hunsdon as their patron. Since he holds the governmental post of Lord
Chamberlain they are called the Lord Chamberlain's Men*. [There had been earlier troupes
under this name but those had been under the patronage of other men who held the post. This
is a new troupe and the most famous one using this name.]
THE EARL OF OXFORD'S MEN* - Another important company seems to have formed in
1589 under the fourth Earl of Worcester (there had been a company of the Earl of Worcester's
Men* since 1555 but this is a new troupe.) They will merge with the Earl of Oxford's Men*
(there was a troupe under this name as early as 1492 but they mostly toured the country) in
1602.
HOW COMPANIES ARE STRUCTURED Companies work under patronage but that merely provides the legal umbrella for their
professional activities. Normally the company has shares which are bought by members of the
company. This provides the initial financial base for the company. Each shareholder receives
a share of the profit the company makes. Expenses include the usual range of scenery,
costumes and wherewithal for a particular production, rental of a theatre (if the company does
not own their own), hiring of salaried actors to supplement the company as needed and
purchase of scripts if these are not written by a member of the company. One of the most
valuable assets a company has is the range of scripts they own. Performances of the leading
companies are regularly requested for the court and performed there. They're also well paid
by the crown for these court performances. Normally the companies play in the public
theatres surrounding London and, in the winter, private theatres or the inns inside the city.
When the plague or religious or political controversy forces theatres to close, the companies
go on tour with those members who wish to do so. Sometimes the comedians tour on their
own with solo acts. As we will see, there are times when a particular company will get into
political hot water for putting on a play that seems too much like a political jab at current
affairs.
The theatres these companies play in have been discussed earlier but at this time we might
take note of who owns what. If you remember, James Burbage* (who's son is the actor
Richard Burbage*) is one of the most prominent owners. He built the Theatre* in 1576 and
bought Blackfriars*. In 1599 the Theatre will be torn down and the timbers used to build the
Globe*. The other owner of importance is Philip Henslowe* (?-1616) who is not an actor but
a real impresario. He will own not only the current Rose*, but in 1599 the Fortune*, and later
in 1614, the Hope*. Henslowe* is even better known for the information he left us about
English theatre. His account and memoranda books, called Henslowe*'s "diary," give us good
insights into the theatrical world of this time. He apparently kept his actors and playwrights in
his debt in order to keep them working in his theatres. This is not good and leads to instability
in his company. He is at his best in a joint venture with Allyen* (who married his
stepdaughter in 1592), in building the Fortune*.
OTHER RELEVANT PLAYWRIGHTS OF THIS PERIOD [NOTE- some 60 manuscripts of plays of this period eventually come into the hands of a
collector named John Warburton* (1682-1759). Many are the only surviving copies of plays
that had never been printed. Unfortunately Warburton* was careless with them and his
servant, Betsy Baker*, made use of them to light her stove and line the bottom of pies. In the
end only three survived. The surviving plays are the work of Dekker, Ford and Massinger.]
George Chapman* (c. 1560-1634) playwright for the Admiral's Men* beginning 1596. He
writes tragedy and comedy but is best known for his translations of Homer* that will
influence the Romantic poet Keats*.
Thomas Dekker* (c. 1572-1632) is known especially for the comedy The Shoemaker's
Holiday* 1599 and his collaborations in The Honest Whore* (1604-5) and Witch of
Edmonton* in 1621.
Thomas Heywood* (c. 1573-1641 is an actor and playwright for the Admiral's Men* in 1599.
He will later move to Queen Anne's Men*. A prolific writer of about 220 plays, counting
collaborations.
Cyril Tourneur* (c.1575-1625) is known for his revenge tragedies.
John Marston* (c.1576-1634 writes exclusively for the Children of St. Paul's* and the Queens
Revels*. He joins Dekker* in the Battle of the Poets* attacking Ben Jonson*'s writings in a
satire, Satyromastix*, in 1601.
John Fletcher* (1579-1625) joins Francis Beaumont* (1584-1616) in 1606 to form a writing
team that is prodigious and enduring. Fletcher also collaborates with Shakespeare*.
Beaumont* and Fletcher* will be best remembered for their comedy, The Knight of the
Burning Pestle* in 1607 and a tragedy, The Maid's Tragedy* (c. 1610.)
Thomas Middleton* (c.1580-1627) writes comedies which are as good as his contemporaries.
A Trick to Catch the Old One* (c. 1605) is a good example.
John Ford* (1586-1639) will begin his career in around 1612 and be best remembered for 'Tis
Pity She's a Whore* (1627), a play filled with incest, blood, blinding, burning and other
assorted forms of mayhem dear to the hearts of the playgoing public.
John Webster* (c. 1575-1635?) by 1602 he is writing for Worcester's Men* and later
collaborating with almost everybody. He is best known for two bloody revenge tragedies, The
White Devil* (1612) and The Duchess of Malfi* (1611614).
Philip Massinger* (1583-1639) doesn't appear in theatre until 1619. He works some with
Fletcher* and his A New Way to Pay Old Debts* (1625) is one of the best of his plays to
survive Betsy's depredations.
William Shakespeare* -(1564-1616)
1591 - His career is documented beginning with this date so it may be useful to take a
moment to outline his life and work. This year (or the following one) we hear of him as a well
established actor and dramatist. He writes at least 36 plays. During his life 16 are printed (in
quarto form), apparently pirated and without his permission. After his death, in 1623, his
acting company (now called the King's Men*) puts out all 36 in folio form. Because of the
lack of information from the published versions the exact dates of the first performance of
each play are uncertain. Generally speaking they seem to go like this:
1591 Henry VI Parts II, III*, Love's Labour's Lost*.
1592 Henry VI Part I*, The Comedy of Errors*.
1593 Richard III*, Two Gentlemen of Verona*.
1594 Titus Adronicus*, The Taming of the Shrew*.

1595 Romeo and Juliet*, Richard II*, A Midsummer Night's Dream*.
1596 King John*, The Merchant of Venice*.
1597 Henry IV, 1 and 2*, The Merry Wives of Windsor *.
1598 Much Ado About Nothing*.
1599 Henry V*, Julius Caesar*, As You Like It*.
1600 Twelfth Night*.
1601 Hamlet*.
1602 Troilus and Cressida*, All's Well That End's Well*.
1604 Measure For Measure*, Othello*.
1605 King Lear*.
1606 Macbeth*.
1607 Antony and Cleopatra*, Timon of Athens*.
1608 Pericles*, Coriolanus*.
1609 Cymbeline*.
1610 A Winter's Tale*.
1611 The Tempest*.
1613 Two Noble Kinsmen*, Henry VIII* (both of these with Fletcher).
1592 - The influence of Hroswitha* shows up in a movement that produces many morality
plays. The title of a collection of such plays by Cornelius Schonaeus*published this year
shows the trend, Christian Terence, or Sacred Comedies*. Shakespeare* is doing Henry VI
Part I*, The Comedy of Errors*.
1592-93 The plague is pretty bad in London (15,000 dead) and the theatres close so the
players go off to tour the countryside.
1593 - Christopher Marlowe* dies in a brawl in a tavern (possibly killed because of his secret
service activities.)
By this time the English theatre is no longer dominated by the Universities.
Shakespeare* is doing Richard III*, Two Gentlemen of Verona*.
1594 - In Italy they are inventing opera*. Another of those classical academies, the Camerata
of Florence* is concerned with Greek music and how it relates to Greek drama. They try to
create something similar to the ancient Greek tragedies and come up with Dafne* (text by
Ottavio Rinuccini* and music by Jacopo Peri*) which turns out to be the beginning of opera.
They recite or chant the words to musical accompaniment. This type stuff is only done in the
academies and in the courts for the next forty years. Later it will become the most popular
dramatic form in Italy after the Commedia dell'Arte*.
Shakespeare* is doing Titus Adronicus*, The Taming of the Shrew*.
1594 The Vatican is giving people a hard time over that theory of the universe worked out by
Copernicus*.
1595 The French king, Henry IV*, declares war on Spain. The Spanish are still trying to do
something massive to England. They land on the English coast of Cornwall and burn
Penzance and Mousehole.
The Dutch begin to colonize the East Indies.
Francis Drake* sails to the Spanish Main (in the Americas) and up the Orinoco River in South
America.
England finally bows to progress and abandons the bow as a weapon of war.
1595 - Sir Philip Sidney*'s critical work on theatre, An Apologia for Poetry*, is published
posthumously.
Shakespeare* is doing Romeo and Juliet*, Richard II*, A Midsummer Night's Dream*.
1596 - James Burbage* (c. 1530-97) buys another part of that old ex-monastery where the
boys troupe played (between 1576-84) and rebuilds it as the second Blackfriars theatre* to use
in the winter. He doesn't get permission to open it. It won't be used by adult companies until
1603.
Shakespeare* is doing King John*, The Merchant of Venice*.
1597 Sir Francis Bacon* (1561-1626) publishes his first work, Essays, Civil and Moral. He
will continue to write, publish and hold governmental offices. One of the great philosophers
of all time, he will do best under the Stuarts.
1597 - Shakespeare* is doing Henry IV, 1 and 2*, The Merry Wives of Windsor*.
1597 - In London a new company made up of some men from other major companies is
formed under the Lord of Pembroke. They perform at the Swan* and in July come out with a
play called The Isle of Dogs*. This hasn't survived but apparently it's the last effort in a
running battle among dramatists (since 1592) getting nastier as it progresses. [An effort of the
previous year by Nashe* is regarded as one of the finest pieces of scurrilous abuse in the
English language.] The Isle of Dogs* is a satiric comedy written by Nashe and Ben Jonson*
among others. It causes a terrific scandal (referred to as lewd, mutinous, seditious and
slanderous.) The Lord Mayor of London closes the playhouses and three of the company
including Jonson* are sent to prison for a couple of weeks (this happens to Ben Jonson*
several times) but Nashe* escapes. This unfortunate scandal puts a real crimp in all the other
companies who are not involved. Pembroke's company disintegrates and Henslowe picks up
the best players for his own company, the Lord Admiral's Men*, at the Rose*. Among these is
Ben Jonson*. All the players who can go on tour do so until the theatres are permitted to open
again in October.
1598 - That Italian designer, Angelo Ingegneri* who did the first show in the Teatro
Olimpico, comes out with an influential book, Discourse on Representational Poetry and the
Manner of Staging Plays*. He is big on the importance of lighting and pushes the idea of a
front light batten with reflectors to light the actors faces and a valence to conceal the light
source from the audience. He also pushes for darkening the auditorium, but audiences want to
be seen so this doesn't happen for quite a while. Even far from home in the New World the
Spanish love theatre. In El Paso (now Texas) they produce a comedia.
Shakespeare* is doing Much Ado About Nothing*.
Ben Jonson* - (1572-1637)
1598 - Now is the time to consider the other major playwright of this period Ben Jonson*.
Although he may have acted earlier (by all reports his acting was poor) we hear this year of
his first significant playwrighting effort Every Man in His Humour* which is given by the
Chamberlain's Men* with whom he is currently associated. The success of this play enables
Jonson to become a free-lance playwright rather than stay on as a shareholder with one
particular company. However, the same fall he gets into a fight in which a man dies and he
goes to prison again. Claiming benefit of clergy (a plea writers used successfully all the time)
he gets off with a clean slate and a branded thumb.
1598 Every Man in His Humour* a satire
1599 Every Man Out of His Humour* a satire
1600-1 Cynthia's Revels* played by the Children at Blackfriars*.
1601 The Poetaster* written in response to the writings of Marston*, Dekker*
, et al in Satyromastix*.
1603 Sejanus His Fall* a failure as a tragedy
1606 Volpone* his best comedy
1609 Epicaene* performed by the Children of the Queen's Revels* at
Whitefriars*.
1610 The Alchemist* excellent comedy
1611 Catiline His Conspiracy* an unsuccessful tragedy
1614 Bartholomew Fair* excellent comedy

1616 The Devil is an Ass* a comparative failure and Jonson* leaves the
theatre for some years although he keeps on as Court Poet*.
1625 The Staple of News* marks Jonson*'s return to the stage but none of
these later plays are as good as his early work.
1629 The New Inn*
1631 The Magnetic Lady*
1633 The Tale of a Tub* (revised)
1598 In Spain Phillip III* (1578-1621) inherits the throne, all those Spanish possessions and
the problems of being a declining power. He takes no interest in government and leaves all
that work to various Dukes. This leads to even more trouble for Spain. He is also known for
his extreme piety which doesn't do the public theatre much good. However, his queen is very
fond of theatre and theatrical performances start to be given frequently at court. Professional
productions and court masques (done by members of the court) are often done wherever the
court is.
1599 Elizabeth I* tries to cope with the Irish problem and sends Robert Devereux, the Earl of
Essex* to crush the rebels. His efforts meet with disaster and he runs for home.
1599 - Shakespeare* is doing Henry V*, Julius Caesar*, As You Like It* and Jonson* does
Every Man Out of His Humour*. Thomas Dekker* does The Shoemaker's Holiday*.
In Spain there is a big controversy about actresses and the royal council declares that they
can't appear on stage unless their husband or father is in the company. There is also a ruling
that neither sex can appear in the dress of the other but nobody pays any attention to this.
By 1600 in most of Europe (except Spain) religious drama has been abandoned.
Baroque*
1600 - About this time a new style called baroque* becomes popular starting in Italy. This is a
grandiose, elaborate expression of princely power driven by the Church and Italian rulers. It is
applied to all artistic forms (music, writing, architecture and sculpture) and involves adding
infinite decorative features. The classical models they started with disappear under all these
embellishments. The trend is toward monumentality, grandeur, richness and movement. This
baroque business will show up in theatre gradually over the next hundred years. In Italy a
family of scenic designers named Bibiena* (or Bibbiena) make an international reputation
over the next hundred years.
In Florence they finally get around to putting on an opera.
One of the changes in the theatre is the use of the flat wing which shows up around now. The
procedure of transferring a perspective to a set of flat wings is described in a book published
this year, Six Books of Perspective* by Guido Ubaldus*.
In Spain the number of theatrical companies is reduced to eight and these must be licensed.
Shakespeare* is doing Twelfth Night* and in 1600-1 Jonson* does Cynthia's Revels*.
1601 Earl of Essex* (who is coming home from that fiasco in Ireland) leads a revolt, is tried
for treason (over this and his behavior in the Irish fiasco) and beheaded.
In Russia there are three years of terrible famine (1601-03).
1601 - Shakespeare* is doing Hamlet*. The Battle of the Poets* is in full swing with
Marston* and Dekker* accusing Jonson* of satirizing them and their style in Jonson's
Cynthia's Revels*. They produce Satyromastix* and Jonson fights back with The Poetaster*
late this year.
1602 - Shakespeare* is doing Troilus and Cressida*, All's Well That End's Well*
The Masque And The New Scenery,
starring Inigo Jones* 1603 - Inigo Jones* is back from Italy and his studies of Vitruvius* and Serlio *. He gets
appointed to the household of Prince Henry as architect which puts him in sole charge of the
court Masques*. He will now embark on a career of design that will determine the course of
future scene design and theatre architecture in England.
Jones* is thoroughly familiar with all of the Serlian settings and the Italian devices for
changing scenery. By now there are three systems for changing the wings. One system strips a
first cover off each wing, revealing a second, another system slides a flat off stage revealing
one behind it and the third uses the prisim shaped periaktoi* which revolves revealing a new
side each time. Jones* is familiar with the whole range of stage effects from moving clouds,
transparencies, sky-borne chariots, earthquakes, ship wrecks and heaving seas to
conflagrations and a darkened hall to enable controllable lighting. Colored lighting and the
use of a flask in front of a light which focuses and projects the light are in use. The picture
frame effect of using a proscenium arch will show up extensively in his work. Unlike the
professional theatre, Jones* has the financial support of the Revels Office* which puts up the
money for all his experiments. We have available extensive drawings and descriptions of all
the marvels Ben Jonson* (see below 1605) and Jones* create which will be published after
each show is over.
1603 - A really fun Spanish document is published that tells all about the kind and range of
traveling players of the time. The author, Rojas*, is an actor in a traveling company. His
work, Entertaining Journey*, describes eight kinds of companies from the single actor who
travels on foot, recites his piece and passes the hat, to the large company of about sixteen who
can perform fifty plays, travel in their own conveyances and have a ticket taker for entrance
fees. In London Jonson* does Sejanus His Fall* which is a failure as a tragedy both with the
public and in incurring official censure (the play had political implications but the Queen likes
it.)
1603 Elizabeth I* has declared James VI* of Scotland her heir. This year she dies and he
becomes James I* of England. We leave the Elizabethean period and begin the Jacobian.
There's another heavy outbreak of plague in England.
1604 - Shakespeare* is doing Measure For Measure*, Othello* and Thomas Dekker* does his
collaborations in The Honest Whore* (1604-5).
1604 The English East India Company is busy exploring Java and that area.
Spain and England finally make peace.
1605 Czar Boris Godunov* dies and Russia plunges into eight years of anarchy and civil war.
In England Guy Fawkes* plots to blow up the House of Lords (called the Gunpowder Plot).
Next year he and his fellow conspirators are sentenced to death.
1605 - Shakespeare* is doing King Lear*.
In Spain Cervantes* published the first part of Don Quixote* (the second part will be out in
1615.) He also writes about thirty plays but it is this satirical romance that is widely translated
and dramatized which captures our imagination down through the ages.
Jonson* begins his collaboration with Inigo Jones* doing Masques* as entertainment for the
court. This year they produce (among others) the famous Masque of Blackness*.
1606 - This is a busy theatrical year.
In Italy those flat wings show up in a court production in Ferrara designed by Giovan Battista
Aleotti*.
Buontalenti*'s pupil, Giulio Parigi* (1570-1635) takes over designing for the de'Medici*s in
Florence. He does a major festival this year. Many engravings of his work survive.
Shakespeare* is doing Macbeth*. Jonson* does Volpone*, his best play which is performed
by The King's Men*.
Even in America there is a French production at Port Royal, Arcadia (Canada.)
English Settlements Begin In America
1606 - We are now at the beginning of the English settlement in what will become the United
States. It begins this year with the Virginia Company of London getting a royal charter and
sending 120 colonists to Virginia. The system of colonization works like this - A private
company is founded with a board of governors who own the stock and put up the money for
the enterprise hoping to reap big profits from it. They sometimes also sell shares to other
investors. The company (sometimes before, sometimes after selling shares) applies to the
King for a patent (a specific grant of land.) The King specifies (very loosely) which patch of
land is granted to the company for their colony and development. This is rather tricky since
the King doesn't own the land and nobody knows exactly where it is or what it is like. Also he
usually makes the grant run west to the Pacific Ocean even though no one knows how far that
is from the Atlantic coast. On some occasions a bunch of people colonize a place and then get
a patent. The whole affair is very untidy. This year James I* gives a patent to two small
groups of colonizers, one from the city of Plymouth, the other from London. Each one gets a
tract of land of 10,000 square miles. Plymouth is to settle their group between the 38th and
45th parallels and London between the 34th and 41st. So the London patentees head off for
Virginia and the Plymouth ones try (but don't make a go of it) for Maine.
1607 The first great operatic composer, Claudio Monteverde* (1567-1643), gets his opera,
Orfeo*, put on in Venice. He pushes the emphasis toward musical rather than dramatic values
and introduces a greater role for instrumental music.
The English put a permanent colony in the Americas at Jamestown, Virginia.
In Ireland the Brits are defeating the Irish and as a result of the massive defeats the Irish
leaders flee the country. This is known as the "Flight of the Earls," who escape to Europe to
avoid persecution for their rebellion.
Spain has national bankruptcy and this causes the Bank of Genoa to fail.
1607 - Shakespeare* is doing Antony and Cleopatra*, Timon of Athens*. John Fletcher* and
Francis Beaumont* collaborate on The Knight of the Burning Pestle.
1608 - Parigi* does another major festival in Florence. This one has a really spectacular water
procession (naumachia*) on the Arno River called "The Battle of the Argonauts*."
By the early part of this century there are three basic elements in the settings for productions:
side wings; back shutters; and, overhead borders.
Shakespeare* is doing Pericles*, Coriolanus*. Finally his company, now the King's Men*,
gets to make use of the private theatre at Blackfriars*.
CHURCH THEATRE CONTROVERSY IN SPAIN In Spain the problem of actresses leads to a decree that no one except actors are permitted
backstage. The Spanish are getting much stricter on censorship of plays, friars are forbidden
to attend the theatre and secular plays are banned from presentation in religious houses and
churches.
1608 Poland takes over much of northeast Russia and blockades Moscow. The Russian
nobility (Boyars) form a provisional government and install a Polish Czar.
1609 In Spain Phillip III*, in his extreme piety, throws out the last of the Moors (known as
Moriscos*) which is economically a disaster. He also recognizes the independence of the
Netherlands.
The first tea from China is shipped to Europe by the Dutch East India Company.
James I* issues a second colonizing patent to the Virginia Company (who sell open stock) for
a strip 400 miles wide stretching from the Atlantic to Pacific.
1609 - Shakespeare* is doing Cymbeline*. Jonson* does Epicaene* performed by the
Children of the Queen's Revels* at Whitefriars*. The Knight of the Burning Pestle* is
performed.
1610 - Shakespeare* is doing A Winter's Tale* and Jonson* The Alchemist*. Fletcher* and
Beaumont* write The Maid's Tragedy*.
1610 The French king, Henry IV*, is assassinated and his son, Louis XIII* succeeds at the
age of nine. Obviously there is a regent, his mother, Queen Maria de'Medici*.
Over in the New World the English explorer, Henry Hudson*, is exploring Delaware Bay and
Hudson Bay.
1611 In Spain Phillip III*'s queen dies and court performances drop off.
In England James I* is having trouble raising money. He dissolves parliament because they
won't do what he wants. This will continue to happen until it turns into a civil war.
The King James Bible* (the authorized English version of the Bible commisioned by James
I*, of course) is published.
1611 - Shakespeare* is doing The Tempest*.
In Spain Tirso de Molina* comes out with The Man in Green Breeches* which features
women disguised as men. The Spanish Church doesn't like this sort of cross dressing
(remember that 1599 ruling against it?)
1612 In Russia they drive out the Poles and put Mikhail Romanov* on the throne.
The Dutch on Manhattan Island open a trading center there. The English are planting tobacco
in Virginia and get the right to govern their Jamestown colony. This self-government doesn't
work too well.
1612 - John Webster* puts on The White Devil*.
1613 - Shakespeare* is doing Two Noble Kinsmen*, Henry VIII* (both of these with
Fletcher).
1614 -John Webster* puts on The Duchess of Malfi*.
1614 James I* has another parliament that won't discuss finance and he dissolves it again.
In America the English colonists prevent French from settling in Maine and Nova Scotia.
1615 -In Spain the number of theatrical companies is increased to twelve, which still must be
licensed.
1616 - Parigi* does another major festival in Florence. In the intermezzo at the Uffizi* palace
theatre (built by Buontalenti*) there is a permanent proscenium arch.
Shakespeare* dies this year.
1617 - Jonson* is made poet laureate by James I*.
1618 - The Teatro Farnese* is finished this year at Parma, although it won't be used for
another ten years. It is designed by an architect called Giovan Battista Aleotti* (1546-1636)
with a permanent proscenium arch. [This building is really the prototype of the modern stage
and still survives today.] Guillen de Castro y Bellvis* (1569-1631) - comes out with Las
Mocedades del Cid* in two parts exploring the exploits of Spain's national hero the Cid.
1618 The Thirty Years War* begins with the "Defenestration" (throwing the Regents out the
window) in Prague.
1619 The first black slaves arrive in Virginia.
1620 The English colony business picks up this year with the successors of the Plymouth
group getting a new charter as the "Council of New England" and a sneaky band of Puritans
(now known as the Pilgrim Fathers) taking ship in the Mayflower* and landing at
Massachusetts where they settle in this year as squatters. The Puritans have an OK from the
Virginia Company to settle there but they land on Plymouth territory instead. It all gets
straightened out and later they are incorporated into Massachusetts.
1621 In Spain Phillip IV* (1605-1665) comes to the throne. Unfortunately for his country he
leaves the running of it to his Prime Minister (Olivares* ) who introduces great extravagances
and gets the country into a lot of wars. However, the extravagances include spectacular
theatre for the court.
The Dutch, who have been fighting with Spain on and off for years, renew their fighting
again. They also establish the Dutch West India Company with a monopoly on trade between
Africa and America and the right to establish colonies. They start small settlements on the
Hudson and Delaware rivers which will become New York City, Albany and part of
Philadelphia. These will make up the future colony of New Netherland which they will lose to
the English in 1664.
1621 - In England Thomas Dekker* does Witch of Edmonton*.
1622 - In Spain Tirso de Molina* comes out with his best historical play, Prudence in
Women*, treating the heroic Queen Maria.
1622 The Council for New England grants sections of land for colonization to two different
men which starts off the settlement of what will become Maine and New Hampshire.
1623 First English settlement is established in New Hampshire. A Puritan divine gets a spot in
New England to offer refuge for the poor of England and be supported by fishing. This is
Gloucester, the first town of the Massachusetts colony.
1624 In France an important figure, both for politics and the theatre, steps onto the national
stage. This is Richelieu* (actually named Armand Jean du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu) (15851642). He is already a prominent church man (Bishop and Cardinal) and elected member of
the French States-General. As a favorite of of the Queen Regent he now becomes Louis
XIII*'s Chief Minister and will exercise complete control.
The English make their first settlement in eastern India and that governance business in
Virginia isn't working and James I* takes it back for himself.
Spanish Court Theatre Flourishes
Pedro Calderon* de la Barca (1600-81), better known as Calderon*, comes as a successor to
Lope de Vega*, writing about 200, mostly religious, plays, of which about eighty survive.
Most of his works are autos and the bulk of his other output is written for the Spanish court.
His works have considerable influence on European drama, especially through French
translations. Even today his best secular work Life's A Dream* is frequently revived.
Beginning about 1621 and continuing until about 1640 Calderon* writes almost all of his
secular plays. He writes primarily for the court, as do most of the other best dramatists. [His
contemporaries, including Francisco de Rojas Zorilla* (1607-c. 1648) and Augustin Moreto*
(1618-1669), lived and worked in Madrid.]
Calderon* is particularly noted for his auto sacramentales* and is regarded as having
perfected the form. Best known of his early religious plays are:
Belshazzar's Feast* (c. 1634)
The Great World Theatre* (c. 1641)
After 1652 he writes secular plays on demand for the court which are short, light and
somewhat similar to the Stuart masque. Many of these are performed at the royal hunting
lodge and their name, zarzuela*, comes from the name of the hunting lodge. These are rather
like musical comedy and become one of the most popular Spanish dramatic forms.
The importance of his work for the court lies not only in the plays themselves but also in the
production of them. As in England, (with the work of Inigo Jones*) the Italinate design
blossoms in the court productions. Phillip IV* brings one of Parigi*'s students, Cosme Lotti*
(?-1665) from Florence in 1626 to stage the court entertainments in a large hall at the Alcazar
and in the gardens at Aranjuez. The most lavish productions with professional actors occur in
the next decade as will be seen below in their own time.
More influential for European drama are his secular plays. They are taken up by the French
and will influence the English later through French translations. He writes two main kinds.
The cape and sword comedies deal with happily resolved love intrigues and
misunderstandings and are best represented by The Phantom Lady* (1629). His serious plays
explore honor and jealousy and include:
No Monster Like Jealousy* (c. 1634)
The Physician to His Own Honor* (1635)
The Painter of His Dishonour* (1635)

Secret Vengeance for Secret Insult* (1635)
The Wonder-Wroking Magician* (1637)
Mayor of Zalamea* (1642)
His finest and best known play is a philosophical allegory, Life Is a Dream * (1636.) His
highly personal lyrical style makes translation difficult and even in Spain his court plays are
little studied.
1625 James I* dies and his son Charles I* takes over. The plague is in London again. A
tobacco tax and monopoly are established in England. This will lead the English colonies in
America to rebel eventually.
1625 - Philip Massinger* does A New Way to Pay Old Debts*.
1626 In America Roger Conant is settling Salem, Massachusetts; Peter Minuit (1580-1638) as
director-general of the Dutch West India Company, buys Manhattan Island; and a Dutch
Colony is founded on the Hudson River.
In the Thirty Years War the German general Wallenstein* is having a series of successes. He
will be used as a hero in one of the later Romantic tragedies (see Schiller in Chapter 12.)
1626 - The Spanish court imports an Italian designer, Cosme Lotti* (?-1643), who is one of
Parigi*'s students. He designs elaborate Italinate scenery for court entertainments staged in a
large hall at the Alcazar.
In Dresden Germany they put on the first German production of Shakespeare's Hamlet*. The
Germans love his plays and will continue productions of them.
1627 - John Ford* puts on 'Tis Pity She's a Whore*.
1628 - Another influential theatrical production author, the German architect Josef
Furttenbach*, the elder (1591-1667), comes out with his Civil Architecture *. He studies for
ten years in Italy, part of it with Parigi* during the 1608 festival, and takes the Italian
principles of theatrical staging back home. In this work there are only two pages devoted to
constructing scenery, but he will write more later.
This year they finally put on a production in the Teatro Franese* over in Parma, Italy.
In Spain The Suspicious Truth* by Juan Ruiz de Alarcon* comes out.
1629 In England, Charles I* dissolves parliament again and it won't meet until 1640 when
things will go from bad to really awful. Meanwhile he grants a charter to the Massachusetts
Bay Company beginning with the land around the Merrimac and Charles Rivers and, of
course, running from the Atlantic to Pacific. This company has two factions, money-making
and building a Puritan commonwealth in New England. The Puritans get the right to have
their own governance and next year starts the great Puritan migration under Winthrop [John
Winthrop*, 1588-1649, 12 times govenor, conservative who helps shape the theocratic
policies of the colony.]. They will begin with founding Boston in 1630. This year marks the
beginning of the "Puritan Exodus"from England.
*******************************
Afterword
As we complete the Renaissance with its last manifestation in the French Neoclassic period
we need to take into account a major change which is occurring in European society. The old
medieval economic system is changing. The modern forms of commercial and industrial
enterprise are slowly taking shape.
The old forms center on the organization of agriculture as seen in the system of manor, village
and open fields in England. Each district supplies the immediate needs of the local population.
It's largely self-sufficient and organized to make a living off the land. Feudal society
depended on service and inheritance which ensures a regular succession of people who work
the land and others who make sure it is worked properly. Most people are tillers of soil who
work the land of their immediate lord and subsist on a share of that land. They inherit their
rights and obligations from their fathers.
This economic system was made for a local civilization with the church, nobles and
administrative officers contributing to it functioning as a unit. It was dominated by tradition
and custom. In towns this organization was paralleled by the organization of the guilds, based
on local privilege. Everybody "belonged" in a definite relation to everyone else with a fixed
status. This meant that each person had their place and function in the world.
By this point in time (1630), the differentiation of function in industry has been growing for a
long time. Capital and labor, making and selling are rapidly becoming distinct functions and
we see the appearance of people who are essentially merchants rather than craftsmen selling
their own wares. Middlemen, traders, exporters and importers are coming rapidly to dominate
the economic scene. Beginning in Italy, banking, insurance and investment capital are driving
commerce as transportation and exploration open up the whole world to European trade.
By the middle of this century a whole new class arises and seeks political representation and
power. This is what might be called the capitalist middle-class which includes land owners,
merchants and industrial capitalists. There is now a clear division between employer and hired
workman. There is also a store of wealth which can be used for new and more profitable
enterprises.
The traditional theatre audiences, the whole local community on one hand and the court on
the other, will slowly change into a middle-class audience. As the power and money pass into
their hands so will culture and the market for theatre pass to them.
The next step at this transition time is the belated theatrical and social revival called
Neoclassicism, which takes place in France. It is the last great flourish of court dominated
theatre.
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CHAPTER TEN
French Neoclassic
and English Restoration 1630-1680
The French Theatre Finally Gets Up and Running
Introduction
France at this time has several things going for it and a number slowing it down.
On the side of FOR: The religious controversy between the catholics and protestants is finally
resolved with the catholics in control of the government but a reasonable amount of freedom
and security guaranteed the protestants. The Puritan turmoil that is brewing in England does
not extend into France. France has always had very close ties with Italy and has benefited
from all the knowledge and skill developed thus far in education and the arts. The Bourbon
monarchy is secure and politically stable with close ties to the Hapsburgs and to Spain. The
centuries long conflicts with the English are no longer active but they have left a strong sense
of French pride and nationalism which prevents the French from learning anything much from
the English.
Economically the French are on the rise. With the turmoil of the Religious wars behind them,
peace and prosperity are spreading throughout the country. Foreign exploration and
international colonies are rapidly expanding, bringing increased economic growth to the home
country.
Louis XIII* is on the throne and the country is being driven on to greater artistic endeavors by
the soon-to-be Chief Minister Cardinal Richelieu*.
On the side of AGAINST: The king rules from his palace outside Paris and has a total
autocratic hold on what can and cannot be done in the city. Unlike England where the city of
London enjoys a high degree of autonomy, Paris must jump to Louis'* tune.
The major theatrical activity exists in the Provinces where touring companies, much like those
in Spain, strive to develop enough expertise to win in the competition for the one or two
available performance spaces in Paris. Unlike England, Spain and Italy who are currently
using a number of urban theatrical performance spaces, France has only the Parisian Hotel de
Bourgogne* and a tennis court.
Monopoly -
Ever since medieval times the Confrerie de la Passion* has held the monopoly for housing
theatrical performance in the French language in Paris. You will notice that this monopoly
applies only to plays in French. This means that touring Italian commedia dell'arte troupes can
not only perform but even move in permanently. The monopoly only applies to the city of
Paris so many different aspiring troupes of actors tour the provinces honing their skills and
waiting for an opportunity to perform in the city. When the Confrerie* went out of business
the monopoly remained with their theatre building, the Hotel de Bourgogne*. It has been
occupied constantly by various amateur groups, traveling Italian comediens and aspiring
French troupes. They usually offer two or three performances each week. The Crown seems
to regard the monopoly as a satisfactory way to control theatre in the capital. When the
English come to visit (during their troubles) they will pick up on this monopoly system and
take it back home. The king, of course, (and later the Cardinals who run things) has
performance space in the palace (the Petit-Bourbon*) and sometimes permits additional
companies to appear in Paris in converted tennis courts.
Tennis courts The weather in Paris is wetter and colder than London and Spain. Consequently, when French
theatre companies go looking for performance space that can be adapted from non-theatre use
they are not looking at inn yards or corrales. What turns out to be ideal are tennis courts. The
game has been popular since medieval times and the spaces built for tennis play are 90 by 30
feet, roofed, and often with balconies for spectators. These admirable structures only need a
platform at one end to become a theatre space serving between 250 and 1800 spectators.
The Court Theatre The Salle du Petit-Bourbon* is in a gallery of the Bourbon Dukes' palace. Long, with a stage
at one end, it has been used for balls and ballets. Now it becomes a regular theatrical
performance space. Later a more elaborate space will be built here. It will be the biggest and
most advanced theatre yet attempted on the Italinate model. This will be the famous Salle des
Machines* (see below, 1660), in the king's palace.
One of the odd things about French theatre production is the custom of seating some
privileged patrons on the stage. This cuts down on the space the actors have to move around
in and puts them, often literally, in the audience's laps. The English will pick up thbis odd
habit and take it back to use on their stages when they go home for the Restoration*
Soon the great playwrights of the French Neoclassic period will swing into action. These will
be: two great writers of tragedy Corneille* and Racine,* and the greatest comedy writer,
Moliere.*
Finally, at the end of this period the French will develop the first permanent acting and
producing company in the Comedie Francais*.
Background for French Theatre
1625 - By this time the ballet de cour* dominates the court entertainment. Since 1588, France
has replaced Italy as the center of western dance theatre.
The Hotel de Bourgogne* now regularly houses a professional troupe (as opposed to earlier
amateur performers.)
A new era in French theater begins with the efforts of a group of well-educated and
technically proficient playwrights. Neoclassical ideals are reinstated and professional troupes
appeared in Paris. Four important dramatists emerge: Jean de Mairet*, Pierre du Ryer*, Jean
de Rotrou*, and Pierre Corneille*.
Jean de Mairet* (1604-86), is the foremost playwright of his time. He will be the first to
formulate the Italian theory of the unities* for the French theatre. This year he writes his first
play, a tragi-comedy, Chryside et Arimand*.
Pierre Corneille* (1606-84), will become one of the two great tragic French playwrights of all
time. His plays remain in the classical repertory down to the present.
Jean de Rotrou* (1609-50) is the second most important playwright of this period, next to
Corneille*. By the time he turns nineteen he will have two plays produced at the Hotel de
Bourgogne*. He will be prolific and more than thirty of hiw plays survive. He will write a
number of plays based on works by Lope de Vega*.
Pierre du Ryer* (1600-58), contributes to the establishment of tragedy as a popular form. He
is a governmemt official who writes to make a little more money, since he is always broke.
He writes farce and tragi-comedy early on, turning to tragedy in the 1630s when it becomes
popular.
1625 Back in England - James I* dies and Charles I* is crowned. Charles marries Henrietta
Maria (daughter of Bourbon Henry IV*) of France. She is strong for an absolute monarchy
and she is Catholic. The whole court has no sympathy with parliamentary Puritanism. This
view will lead to disaster for everybody.
Charles I* convenes his first parliament and then adjourns it to Oxford because of plague in
London.
Francis Bacon* is busy writing Of Masques and Triumphs*.
1626 - In Spain Court entertainments are reaching their peak as Philip IV* brings the Italian
designer Cosmo Lotti* from Florence to put Italian scenery into the indoor and outdoor
productions.
1628 In England Charles I* is having trouble with parliament. It makes him sign the Petition
of Right* (dating from King John and the Magna Carta*) which forces him to promise not to
do all those things he wants to do. These include not raising taxes without the consent of
parliament, no soldiers billeted in private houses, no martial law in peace time, no
imprisonment without a specific charge, and, a new wrinkle, parliament gets to have a say-so
in how the English Church is run. This makes Charles I* so mad that he dissolves parliament
and tries to rule without it. So much for English experiments with democracy.
1629 - Back in Spain Calderon* comes out with one of his best known cape and sword*
plays, The Phantom Lady*.
Meanwhile English Theatre is Changing

1629 - In England the second roofed public theatre, Salisbury Court*, opens its doors in
London. At court the Royal Cockpit* opens. It is created by Inigo Jones*, to provide Charles
I* a home for the King's Men* to perform at court. With so many private theatres showing up,
the public theatres are now used only in good weather between May and October. The middle
class has a craving for sensationalism, horror and spectacle which is much better served in
these indoor theatres where scenery, lighting and special effects can provide the visual
wherewithal.
1629 Over in America the English are fighting the French and this year the English storm
Quebec.
The colony of Massachusetts is founded.
Back in France
Richelieu* Pushes Theatre Development
1629 - Cardinal Richelieu* [see p.140] (1585-1642) is made Chief Minister to the court of
Louis XIII*, becoming the virtual ruler of France. He uses his position to encourage the
development of French literature and the arts, especially playwrighting, and fancies himself a
dramatic author. He collects five playwrights (Collete, Claude de l'Etoile, Rotrou*, Boisrobert
and Corneille *), to make plays out of rough sketches he writes for them. Georges de
Scudery* (1601-67), an aspiring playwright is not one of these favored few and his
resentment of Corneille* will crop up later. Corneille* had written his first play back in his
home town of Rouen for a strolling company. The play is titled Melite*, a comedy unlike
either farce or pastoral and which will set French comedy on new path. It was successfully
produced in Rouen, starring Montdory* (Guillaume Desgilberts 1594-1651) who now comes
to Paris with his acting company this year after beginning his acting career in a tour of
Holland in 1612. Montdory* mounts a new production of Melite* here in Paris. It is so
successful that Montdory*'s company becomes one of the leading ones in Paris.
1629 - Du Ryer*, an educated government official, produces Clitophon*. He helps to
establish tragedy as a popular form.
De Rotrou* adapts Spanish dramas, bringing love versus honor to the French stage. He
becomes the principal dramatist to the Hotel de Bourgogne. This going to the Spanish will be
very important for Corneille* later. The love and honor theme will really excite Racine*.
1629 In England Charles I* dissolves another Parliament in March and one will not meet
again until 1640.
1630 - In France, concern for the actor's personal character and dignity appears. Gougenot*'s
La Comedie des Comedians*, depicts a rehearsal and defends actors from the charge of
immorality.
In Spain Tirso de Molina* comes out with his El Burlador de Sevilla* (The Trickster of
Seville) the first theatrical work of the Don Juan* story.
1631 Over in India the Shah Jahan builds the Taj Mahal* for his favorite wife, Mumtaz
Mahal, who died giving birth to her fourteenth child.
1631 - Lope de Vega* is doing another of his better known plays, Punishment Without
Revenge*.
In Spain the actors are finally allowed to form a guild like that of other trades. The Confradia
de la Novena* is still in existence and includes all theatrical people. This really helps raise the
social status of the actor from being branded "infamous", a rogue and vagabond and denied
church sacraments.
Ben Jonson* retires from writing masques for the court and William Davenant becomes the
principal writer.
1632 - Back in France they are also concerned about the social status of actors. Georges de
Scudery* (1601-67) comes out with a play with the same title as Gougenot*'s La Comedie des
Comedians* also arguing that actors, like everyone else, should be judged on an individual
basis. His list of qualifications to be an actor includes: appropriate facial expression,
impressive bearing, unconstrained movement, absence of provincial accent, absence of
posturing, a good memory, and sound judgement.
1632 Charles I* issues a charter for the colony of Maryland (named for his queen, Henrietta
Maria) and puts it under the control of Lord Baltimore.
English Religious Opposition Increases
1632 - In England the Puritan opposition to theatre is growing by leaps and bounds.
This year an acid-tongued Puritan pamphleteer called William Prynne* (1600-1669) comes
out with a work titled Histriomastix* (he will call a later one by the same title) attacking
popular amusements in general and stage plays in particular. This torrent of venom can be
seen in parts of its lengthy subtitle such as:
"...That popular Stage-players...are sinfull, heathenish, lewde, ungodly
Spectacles, and most pernicious Corruptions; condemned in all ages as
intolerable Mischiefes...And that the profession of Play-poets, of Stageplayers; together with the penning, acting and frequenting of Stage players are
unlawfull, infamous and misbeseeming Christians."
This viewpoint needs some exploration since it dogs the theatre down through the present day.
The notion that the theatre, and consequently theatre going, affects the attitudes of the public
is not a new argument. Pamphleteers make much use of historical precedent from classical
sources as well as Christian sources. We have pointed out that Euro-centric theatre acts as a
mirror for its society as well as a platform where public attitudes are propounded and debated.
It is both the glory and the bane of theatre that it affects public opinion and action. In this
particular case the Puritan view takes the position that human beings are inherently evil and
must be won to God by exclusive devotion to hard work and religious observances. Anything
which might distract the struggling soul from these two activities is a tool of the Devil.
Also at this point in time in England the Crown is seen as unresponsive to the Puritan view,
mired in adherence to Anglican religious views and, more significantly, totally given over to
extravagant financial support of theatrical entertainments. In this view every expenditure is
unwillingly wrested from the public by illegal means (the King keeps disbanding or
dismissing Parliament in order to raise money for the Crown) and the primary use to which
this money is put appears (since it is the only clearly public evidence of expenditure) to be
theatrical display. Consequently, theatre and crown are seen as identical in their evil.
Prynne* calls the theatre audience:
"Adulteres, Adulteresses, Whore-masters, Whores, Bawdes, Panders, Ruffians,
Roarers, Drunkards, Prodigals, Cheaters, idle, base, prophane and godlesse
persons, who hate all grace, all goodnesse, and make a mocke of piety."
He aptly represents the view that theatre stands for sensory pleasure, idleness, wanton
spending and for the Crown. The Crown, for this view, is the symbol of all religious and
political abuse and theatre is its willing tool.
It is this view that is transported across the Atlantic and planted on North American shores,
particularly in New England. The period between 1629 and 1640 is known as the great
"Puritan Exodus" from England. Something like 21,000 Puritans flee the triumph of
absolutism in church and state in Charles I's England. The New World is, for these
immigrants, to be made into a truly pious society from which the Crown, the theatre and all
who seem to tend in that direction will be excluded or expelled. Fortunately the New World
will also include other plantations with other views.
You will note that this particular view is one of the human extremes of social organization,
still alive and well in current times under the appellations of "fundamentalism" whether
Christian or Moslem. It is useful to keep in mind that the Moslem view has always excluded
theatre as a viable social entity.
As we move on, in the 1600's, these matters in England go from bad to worse and defenders
of the theatre are overwhelmed by the Puritan opposition.
1633 Charles I* is crowned the King of Scotland and revives a fine on forest use to raise
money.
William Laud* (1573-1645) becomes the Archbishop of Cantebury and virtual first minister
for Charles I*. He is a passionate advocate of the Anglican Church and vehemently opposed
to Calvinism and Puritanism. He has had a free hand in opposing these protestant sects and is
now trying to root out Presbyterianism in Scotland (which is why Charles I* is here being
crowned this year.)
Charles I* and Laud* works closely with Sir Thomas Wentworth,* the First Earl of Strafford*
(he is president of council of the north, privy councilor and lord deputy of Ireland where he
put down both Catholic and Ulster Presbyterians.) Between these councillors and the
notorious tribunals of the Court (the Star Chamber and High Commission Court), Charles I*
is able to bypass normal legal processes and rule as he wishes.
1633 - Back in Spain Calderon* is coming out with plays exploring honor. This year he does
Devotion to the Cross*.
Back to the French
1634 - Richelieu* wants a little more theatre in Paris and ok's breaking the Confrerie de la
Passion*'s monopoly. A new theatre, Theatre du Marais*, the first serious rival to Hotel de
Bourgogne*, opens in December. It's a converted tennis court in the Rue Vieille-du-Temple
and is used by a company headed by the actor Montdory* (Guillaume des Gilleberts, 15941654) and Charles LeNoir.
Corneille*, fed up with that business of turning sketches into plays for the Cardinal, quits the
Cardinal's group and begins serious playwrighting. Most of his early plays are produced by
Montdory*'s company.
1634 - In England the most expensive masque, The Triumph of Love* by James Shirley*
(1596-1666) and Inigo Jones*, is produced by the Inns of Court. This excessive spending for
what the Puritans regard as tools of the Devil will lead very soon to civil war, repression of
the theatre and the death of a reigning monarch. All this will send shock waves through
European monarchies and lay the ground work for later American and French rebellions.
1634 That venomous English pamphleteer, Prynne*, comes out with another effort. This one
casts aspersions on the King and Queen and earns him life imprisonment, the loss of his ears
in pillory and branding on both cheeks (SL for seditious libeler.) This, however, will not be
the end of his career.
Across the Atlantic there is a constant trickle of Dutch and a few Swedes settling in Long
Island, the Hudson River valley and Delaware.
From England there is a rising tide of Catholics and Protestants escaping the pressures of
Anglican conformity.
The French Academy*
1635 - Louis XIII*, egged on by Richelieu*, orders the establishment of the French
Academy* (L'Academie francaise*). Richelieu* has been urging the formation of the French
Academy* as an arbiter of literary taste. The Academy is charged with the "purification of the
French language." This means it is supposed to set standards for every kind of writing in
French, including plays. It is made up of forty men called "the immortals" because no new
guys can be elected until one of the old ones dies off. When that happens the members
themselves elect somebody new to replace him. If you want to be a top-notch writer in France
you have to get into this group. Scudery* is tickled pink to be one of the founding members
because Corneille* isn't. Another writer, best known for his work with the founding of the
academy and later opinions for it is Jean Chapelain* (1595-1674.) Obviously, over the years,
many really good writers don't make it into this exclusive club. We think they're good
anyway. This academy bunch will really give Corneille* a hard time.
The French players are touring to London. This year Floridor's (he lived c. 1608-71) company
played the Cockpit* (that ex-cockpit in Drury Lane that had been redone as a theatre.)
In Spain Calderon* comes out with his play, The Doctor of His Own Honor*.
1635 In America the colonization of Connecticut begins.
Corneille*
1636 - Corneille* produces Le Cid* with Montdory* in the role of Rodrigue. This play
precipitates a battle that will clarify the conflict between old and new playwriting ideals. Like
the earlier Romeo and Juliet*, the plot revolves around the theme of lovers having to choose
between their love for each other and their duty to their parents. Although popular with the
people, the tragic form of the play is severely criticized by other playwrights. This
controversy becomes so intense, Cardinal Richelieu* asks the brand new French Academy* to
pass a verdict on the play. This is rather unnerving for Corneille* who has successfully
produced five comedies, a tragicomedy and a tragedy between 1634 and 1636. But this
controversy will bring him increased fame and begin his period of greatest successes.
The controversy about Le Cid* involves praise for the ways in which it adheres to
neoclassical doctrine and censure for all deviations. [see: Les Sentiments de l'Academie sur
Le Cid* by Jean Chapelain*, leader of the Academy.] The attacks really upset Corneille* and
he doesn't write any plays for four years. When he resumes playwrighting he adapts to the
more stringent requirements and continues to be the leading playwright.
Other important plays: Contributions to dramatic theory:
Horace* - 1640 Examens* several
Cinna* - 1640 Discours* several, especially the First of
Polyeucte* - 1642-3 1660
Le Mort de Pompee* - 1643-4
Nicomede* - 1651
1637 French Academy* is given the official charter under which it still operates. Its primary
task is the study and codification of French language and style. [In 1991 the Academy decided
to drop the accent ague from the written French language.]
1637 - Le Cid* has been such a terrific success that the other French playwrights are jealous
and start a barrage of complaints. Scudery* jumps into the argument with great enthusiasm.
He launches his first attack with his Observations sur le Cid* in which he sets out to prove:
the subject matter is worthless and besides the handling of it is terrible; it violates the chief
rules of drama; has a lot of bad lines; and, finally, anything beautiful in it is stolen. This sets
off a barrage of opinions back and forth between the critics attacking and Corneille*
defending, all of this in print. Finally the matter is referred to the newly founded Academy*
and Chapelain* writes out the first draft of what will become their final Sentimens*. It is to
Richelieu's advantage to bring discredit on Corneille*'s play so he encourages this sentiment,
and even insists that the findings be adverse. [Remember? Corneille* dropped out of the
Cardinal's playwrighting stable and then went on to be successful? You just don't offend the
powerful, especially in an absolute monarchy.]
The Unities
Well, the upshot is the establishment of some terrifically restrictive requirements for French
tragedy. The opinion sets up a strict view of what can be used in a tragedy. The basic points
are called the three unities*:
1- the Unity of Action* means that there should be no more than one principal action;
2- the Unity of Place* requires that the action take place in a single location (preferably in one
house, but at the most, within one day's walking distance);
3- the Unity of Time* requires that the action of the play take place in the course of a single
natural day (the "Twenty-four-hour rule".) This tends to get still shorter until it becomes a
requirement that the time covered in the action of the play should not be any longer than the
actual time it takes to play out the production on the stage.
1637 - Back in Italy (Venice), the first Venitian opera house, the San Cassiano* , opens for an
audience drawn from all classes. Opera is now starting to be performed professionally and the
Venetians like it so much that in the next four years three more opera houses will open. This
is the beginning of the spread throughout Italy of both operatic performance and buildings
specifically designed for opera.
In England a new masquing hall (for presentation of those elaborate masques) is constructed
in Whitehall Palace. Now that architect-turned-set desigher, Inigo Jones,* can do all that
fantastic Italian scenic stuff at the English court.
It is the beginning of Irish theatre when, in Dublin, Ireland a guy named John Ogilby* (16001676) is made Master of Revels for Ireland and gets a license to open a theatre in that city.
1638 - A still different influential author, the Italian Nicola Sabbattini* (c. 1574-1654), comes
out with his Manual for Constructing Theatrical Scenes and Machines*. This is a major
source of information about scenic practice. The information includes how to rig a roll curtain
and, on lighting, candles and oil lamps placed inside the side wings, as well as above the
scene, and in foot lights. He also describes a system of dimming the lights by lowering tin
cylinders over the lamps.
1638 In America there is an increasing flow of poorer immigrants to Virginia, mainly
indentured servants (those who sell themselves into slave-like service for a set number of
years to pay for passage and a start).
While there had been some small importation of African slaves to the colonies since 1619, the
number begins to pick up about now and seems to be about equal to the number of indentured
servants arriving in Maryland and Virginia.
Calderon
c. 1638 - In Spain Pedro Calderon de la Barca* does his famous philosophical allegory about
the human situation, Life Is A Dream*. This is regarded as his finest and is certainly his best
known play. Remember he is writing mainly for the court and this play is done at the King's
request. One of the most relevant things about his plays at this time is that they have
considerable influence on European drama. They are translated into French and many of the
English Restoration* playwrights get to know them through the French. A number of English
plays turn up that are based on Calderon*'s plots and characters. The plays themselves have
little impact on the English theatre because there are great difficulties in translating
Calderon*'s highly individual lyrical style from Spanish into English.
1639 - Back in Italy there is a Venitian opera house built this year. It is the SS. Giovanni e
Paolo*. [Fortunately there is a surviving plan of the theatre and so we know exactly how it
looked.] There are five balconies with 29 boxes each and a "pit" (floor level seating). The
highest balconies are for the lower classes and the pit is anybody who doesn't care about
social status. The box system of seating means that you don't have to mingle with the rest of
the audience. This arrangement of audience seating will dominate until the end of the
nineteenth century.
Problems in England
1639 In England that effort by Charles I* to try to change the Scots from Presbyterian to
Anglican is turning into armed conflict. This is what is called the First Bishops' War in
Scotland. Charles I* loses it and is forced to sign the Pacification of Berwick and abolish the
Anglican episcopacy in Scotland.
1640 Charles I* needs money to raise an army to deal with all these problems in Scotland.
[Remember that Scotland hasn't been a part of England for very many years.] He convenes
what will come to be known as the Short Parliament. It is short (two months) because it
doesn't do what he wants it to and he dissolves it. Another parliament is called in November
and it will become known as the Long Parliament. It's long because it takes over the
government from the King and it will stay in power into 1653. It manages to do this by
forcing the king (who needs it desperately) to agree that it won't be dissolved without its own
consent. The parliament then proceeds to address a long list of grievances that have built up
over the years. They release prisoners like Prynne*, who now becomes a member of
parliament, and begin to bring to trial those they regard as the king's evil advisors. Another
guy gets elected to parliament from Cambridge this year. Nobody knows much about him
now but he will soon make a big splash. His name is Oliver Cromwell* and he is a Puritan by
religious conversion. He becomes the leader of the Puritans in parliament.
In Germany the "Great Elector*", Frederick William (fl. 1640-88) succeeds to the throne in
Brandenburg. He will be busy all over Europe as will his descendents. His son will be the first
Frederick of Prussia and his grandson will become known as Frederick the Great.
1640 - In other parts of Europe theatrical activity is flourishing. The German architect Josef
Furttenbach* the elder comes out with his second work containing more information on
theatre scenery, Recreational Architecture*. In this work he covers the same ground as in his
first work but with much more information including drawings and designs he made for actual
productions.
1640 - In Spain that Italian designer Cosmo Lotti* is building a permanent theatre, the
Coliseo*, in the new palace in Madrid. It is the most modern theatre of the day with a
proscenium arch and wing and groove system for changing scenery. It is so snazzy that they
occasionally have public productions with a percentage going to charities. But, theatre in
general is headed down hill in the 1640's in part because of the Catalan and Portuguese
rebellions this year. There is a general atmosphere of uncertainty in Spain.
1641 In England the parliamentary initiated trials are in progress to punish those evil advisors
of the king and Strafford* [see above 1633] is tried and beheaded.
In Ireland the religious views are different but the effect of all this unrest is the same. The
Irish Catholics who had been subjugated by Strafford rise up and massacre the Ulster
Protestants as part of a general Irish Catholic rebellion. This results in a wave of Protestant
Irish sailing off to settle in America.
Parliament is really on a power roll and throws all Bishops out of the House of Lords, passes
the Grand Remonstrance which protests the king's wrongful actions. This really lights the
fuse.
1641 - Back in France by this time, all French acting troupes in Paris are receiving a
government subsidy. Louis XIII* issues a decree stating his desire that "...the actors'
profession...not be considered worthy of blame nor prejudicial to their reputation in society."
The church still denies sacraments to actors.
Richelieu* builds a palace for himself, Palais Cardinal, with an excellent performance space
(later called Palais-Royal*.) This is the first Italianate theater in France.
1641 - 1645 Down in Venice, Italy, an influential designer, Giacomo Torelli* (1608-1678), at
the Teatro Novissimo*, works the kinks out of a scene-shifting system called the chariot-andpole* method. This entails cutting slots through the stage floor to enable a pole from the floor
below to support a flat on the stage and be moved by a "chariot" that pulls it back and forth
under the stage on a track. The ropes that power each "chariot" are hooked together to one big
winch so that all the flats can be moved at the same time. Those transformations that
everybody is so crazy about work so much better with this system that it spreads all over
Europe. The old, simpler, groove system will continue to be the main shifting method in
England, America and Holland.
England Falls into Civil War
1642 In England, Charles I* marches in person to Westminster in an attempt to arrest five
members of the Parliament he accuses of treason, but his attempt fails and he has to flee with
his family to Hampton Court. Things are not looking good so he packs his wife, Henrietta
Maria, off with the rest of the family and the crown jewels to Holland to go chat up her
relatives and friends on the continent for help, so he can raise an army and fight parliament.
Charles I* sets up his battle standard at Nottingham on August 22, 1641 and the Civil War is
up and running. His followers will be called the Cavaliers and the forces of Parliamentarians
(or Puritans) are referred to as Roundheads because they wear their hair shorter and don't
wear wigs. Cromwell* is in the lead in organizing armies for parliament. He turns out to be a
real whiz both at military organization and strategy and his success in battles earn him the
nickname "ironsides".
Meanwhile the Puritans put many of their social ideas into practice: all theatres are closed and
racing horses outlawed; no sports, selling or games permitted on Sundays; gambling, dicing,
swearing and drinking are fined; books are censored for "scurrilities and gross jests";
fornication gets you three months in jail and adultery and sodomy are now felonies carrying a
death sentence.
1642 - An Act of Parliament closes the theatres in London and suspends all performances for
a period of five years so theatrical activity virtually ceases. The Globe* theatre is torn down
and some of the companies sell off their costume wardrobes. Acting companies disperse,
some of them following the royal household into exile in France, or touring on the continent,
others remaining to attempt surreptitious performances in the Cockpit* and the Red Bull.
Many other actorss simply turn to other trades. Other theatre buildings are torn down or stand
idle. The public will be without a public theatre for 18 years and will be very difficult to
attract them back when theatres open again. The broad-based Renaissance audience is lost
forever. The actors who go to France will bring back many things they find in French theatre.
1642 Richelieu* dies this year and is replaced as prime minister by his protege, Cardinal
Giulio Mazarin* (1602-1661). This naturalized Sicilian will continue the policies of his
mentor.
1643 Louis XIII* dies and the throne goes to his son Louis XIV* (born 1638, he reigns 16431715.) Since he is only five at this time the regent is his mother, but Cardinal Mazarin* wields
the power. He will come to be called the Sun King*.
1645 - Calderon* comes out with a play, The Great Theatre of the World*, that will influence
nineteenth century Romantic playwrights. In this religious allegory God is a playwright.
1645- In the English Civil War Cromwell* works out a surrender of the king's 46 forces and
heads the army's council of war to negotiate with the king. There is a momentary lull in the
war at this point.
1645 - Cardinal Mazarin* picks up where his predecessor left off in the entertainment area,
only he wants snazzier court productions. He introduces opera to France. A visiting commedia
dell'arte troupe begs the Queen to bring in set designer Giacomo Torelli to make their
productions as appealing as the opera. She does and Torelli comes and introduces the Italian
ideal in scene design to France.
This year Moliere* gets out of debtor's prison, joins some of his former actors and begins to
act in the provinces. This formative stage of his career will last until 1658 [see below.]
1645-1659 Ballet regains popularity. Not the formal dance as we know it, but stories
explained by a spoken libretto and pantomimed by performers in movements based upon
ballroom dances. Louis XIV* often dances in them, especially The Ballet of The Night, in
which he appears as the Sun.
1646 - The public theatres are closed in Spain this year and will remain so through 1651. This
contributes to the decline of Spanish drama. The Spanish court, however, still wants
entertainment so their productions don't stop.
1647 Back in war torn England, Cromwell*'s having problems with parliament and the king
slips away to the Isle of Wight while trying to make a deal with the Scots for help. Cromwell*
has been willing to be lenient with the king but now he switches to requiring unconditional
surrender.
1647 - In Spain, with the public theatres closed, Calderon* turns to writing a greater number
of religious autos*. He will write two every year until his death in 1681. All the autos*
presented in Madrid during this time (from 1641 through 1681) are his new works.
In England the law forbidding performances expires and some open performances resume.
This won't last long.
1648 The English Civil War is on again and Cromwell* persuades parliament to embark on a
government without a king. There is religious contention as well since Cromwell* and his
armies belong to churches which are "independent" and this causes the Catholics,
Episcopalians and Presbyterians to get together and support the Royalist cause. The internal
factional bickering in parliament is growing and when Cromwell* is off defeating the last of
the Cavalier armies parliament makes a separate deal with Charles I*. This doesn't go down
well with Cromwell's faction and since the army is with him there is a purge in parliament.
The upshot is a trial of the king and the framing of a new constitution called the Agreement of
the People.
The Thirty Years War* (that religious fracas in Germany involving the Swedes, French,
Spanish and disparate parts of the Hapsburgs' Holy Roman Empire) ends with the Peace of
Westphalia (except the Spanish and French who will keep fighting until 1659.) This is the
first great all-European peace treaty and gives Sweden and France a good deal. The
Hapsburgs are on the short end of the stick and Germany is left a devastated and disorganized
mess. The whole thing raises doubts as to whether religious war is worth the effort. This leads
to increasing religious tolerance in central Europe.
1648 In France there is also war. The French civil war (of the Fronde- 1648-53) and the
continuing war with Spain, cause a decline in 1652 theatrical writing. The civil war involves
the French nobles trying to regain rights taken from them by Richelieu. Richelieu's successor,
Cardinal Mazarin*, rules France for the child-king Louis XIV*. He is busy creating the role of
Sun King* for Louis XIV* and he solves this rebellion by forcing all nobles of high rank to
live at court where they can be watched for subversive tendencies.
1649 In England Charles I* is condemned by act of parliament and beheaded. Boy, does this
send shock waves through the crowned heads of Europe. It also plants the seeds for the next
century's revolutions. However, it does not bring an end to the fighting. Cromwell* is sent off
to Ireland to bring peace and protestant rule. He copes well with the various protestant
factions but really plays havoc with the Catholics and they, together with defeated Cavalier
forces, emigrate to America, (especially to Virginia). This particular influx into Virginia
raises the character and prosperity there by providing a balance to the earlier poor settlers.
1649 - In England Parliament passes a new law ordering all actors be apprehended as rogues
and the interiors of the Fortune*, Salisbury Court* and the Cockpit* are dismantled. This
doesn't defeat the few hardy actors remaining, who continue to perform illegally at the one
remaining theatre, the Red Bull*. When that proves too dangerous they perform in private
houses, tennis courts and inns, bribing officials to look the other way. The main fare seems to
be short farcical plays called drolls* which are sort of condensations of longer works.
The first of several important works on theatrical practice comes out of the Jesuit schools in
Germany. This one is Treatise on Perspective* by Dubreuil.
1650 - Back in England the actors seem to feel the future will be better and one William
Beeston* (1606-1682) buys the Salisbury Court*, rebuilds it and begins training a company of
boys. Another man, John Rhodes*, also organizes a boys company.
1650 In Russia by the 1650's the peasants have become serfs* (a sort of slave, except they
can't be freed or buy their way out) and are legally bound forever to the estates they serve.
In India in the 1650's the Mongol ruler (Aurangzeb) reverses the religious tolerance
introduced by Akbar* and sets the empire on a decline. As the Mongols lose their grip the
Europeans move in to open up trade and run things themselves.
In England the fighting continues as the English heir, Prince Charles, (later Charles II*) lands
in Scotland (after all, he is a Scots' Stuart and they proclaim him king) and leads his army
south into England.
1651 - In Spain, after a series of personal disasters, Calderon* becomes a priest. He continues
to write autos* until the end of his life but no more secular Spanish plays.
The Spanish theatres are reopened this year
1651 Prince Charles is defeated in Scotland in December and the Royalist part of the Civil
War is effectively over. As a result there is a large emigration of Scots off to America. This is
supplemented by forced transportation of criminals, part of them political, to Virginia,
Maryland and South Carolina. The colonies are growing by the thousands. Virginia alone will
show an increase of 25,000 by the end of this Civil War period. Meanwhile Cromwell* is
having his problems with the other factions in parliament over constitutional reform and
toleration.
1652 - In Austria there is rising interest in the French and Italian theatre stuff. Now that the
Thirty Years War is over the courts are trying to be as much like the French as they can. The
emperor imports an Italian (Ludovico Burnacini*) from Venice to put on court
entertainments.
1653 Cromwell* is losing his argument with parliament and forcibly dissolves the Long
Parliament. From here on he is the only real central authority in the realm. He puts together a
new and more intimidated parliament (remember he has the army behind him) and they resign
their powers to him. In December he becomes "lord protector" under a new constitution. He
legally unites Scotland, Ireland and England, reorganizes the church, improves administration
of justice, promotes trade and tries to enforce a reformation in manners.
1654 - In Munich (Germany) they open a court theatre and import Francesco Santurini*,
Italy's most outstanding designer, to put on lavish spectacles.
1655 In the Americas Anglo-Spanish hostilities grow and spread to Europe.
1656 - Back in France the French drama begins to recover from that modest civil war.
Thomas Corneille*, younger brother of Pierre Corneille stages Timocrate. He is the author of
more than 40 plays, but they aren't very good and he always lives in the shadow of his
brother.
In England, Sir William Davenant*, an actor who has ridden out the Puritan Interregnum*,
gets permission to put on two musical plays, The First Day's Entertainment at Rutland House,
and The Siege of Rhodes*. These are done at a private house (his home), Rutland House, so
they certainly don't count as public theatre events. But, it's a start. These are referred to as
England's first operatic attempts but they are more like the later operettas. The second
production is more famous than the first because it is the first real use in England of the
Italinate scenery for a public (rather than a court) performance.
This business of getting a performance past the restrictions of monopolies, censorship and
religious intolerance by having music as part of it will provide some interesting experiments
in the future of England and France.
Spain has always had songs and dance so it doesn't matter there.
Moliere*
1658 - Under the patronage of the king's brother, Monsieur*, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin called
Moliere* (1622-73) appears before Louis XIV* and his Court acting in Corneille*'s tragedy
Nicomede*. This is an historic moment in French theatre history. Louis hates Moliere*'s
quiet, naturalistic acting style. The darling of the stage at the moment (who is also present for
this performance) is Montfleury* who bombastically rants and raves. [Note: see the character
in Rostand's* Cyrano de Bergerac* who is supposed to be this actor.] Fortunately for theatre
history and the French stage, Moliere* quickly offers one of his comedies that have been so
successful in the provinces. Since his company is well trained in the Italian manner for short
comic impromptu pieces, their performance of Le Docteur Amoureuz* is an immediate
success. Moliere* and his acting company have finally arrived on the Parisian theatrical
scene. The public production of the one-act satire, Les Precieuses*, this same year caps their
success.
Moliere*'s company is given permission to share the Petit-Bourbon* theatre with an Italian
company already in residence. Their reputation grows, mainly on the strength of Moliere*'s
comedies L'Etourdi* and Le Depit amoureux* which had won them acclaim in the provinces.
Moliere* is among the first playwrights to bring a play's action inside instead of the more
usual Roman habit of playing all the action out-of-doors. He will become France's most
important comic writer. Comedy for the court and the popular commedia dell'arte* are
blended and the new form, comedy of manners*, is born. The English will learn a great deal
from this. After Moliere*'s death his plays will make up a large and vital part of the French
national repertory down to the present day.
Moliere*'s plays Court plays - with music by Lully*- Plays done at produced at the PetitBourbon*: Richelieu*'s Palais-Royal*:
Les Facheux* - 1661; Don Garcie, ou Le Prince Jaloux* - 1661; L'Impromptu
de Versailles* - 1663; L'Ecole des Marais* - 1661; Le Mariage Force* -
1664; L'Ecole des Femmes* - 1662; La Princesse d'Elide* - 1664; La

Critique de L'Ecole des Femmes* - 1663; Le Sicilien, ou L'Amour Peintre* L'Amour Medecin* - 1665, 1667; Le Misanthrope* - 1666; Georges Dandin,
ou Le Mari Confondu, Le Medecin Malgre Lui* - 1666 - 1668; Amphitryon* 1668; Monsieur de Pourceaugnac* - 1669; L'Avare* - 1668; Les Amants
Magnifiques* - 1670; Les Fourberies de Scapin* - 1671; Le Bourgeois
Gentilhomme* - 1671; Les Femmes Savantes* - 1672; Psyche* - 1671; Le
Malade Imaginaire* - 1673; La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas* - 1671
Moliere* devotes most of his work to exposing hypocrisy and pretentiousness in the society
around him. There is plenty of it there and this makes a lot of powerful people mad. The
School for Wives* questions the right of guardians to dispose of their wards and precipitates
an attack on moral grounds. Two of his best plays arouse so much animosity that the first,
Tartuffe* - 1664, is not permitted to be performed publicly for five years. Even the king can't
let it go on publicly although it is widely read and performed privately for members of the
Court. Tartuffe* is an attack on hypocrisy, and is thought to be a condemnation of religion.
He rewrites it twice before it is deemed acceptable. The second, Don Juan, or Le Festin de
Pierre* - 1665, is performed for several months and then dropped from the repertory. This one
isn't even published in Moliere*'s lifetime.
1658 In England Cromwell* dies and his son Richard Cromwell* becomes lord protector. The
army finds him unacceptable and some of the council mistrusts him so he's off to a bad start.
What with all the internal disagreements the parliament has been considering the idea of a
constitutional monarchy. This development gives it added urgency.
1658-59 - In England William Davenant* takes advantage of the legal loophole in the ban on
theatre to present "musical entertainments." He puts on three such entertainments in the
Cockpit* over the course of these two years.
1659 The war between France and Spain ends with the Treaty of the Pyrenees this year and
France gets some territory including the Spanish Netherlands.
1659 - Corneille*, the elder, returns to writing plays but they are not among his best.
Salle des Machines* in Paris
1659 - In Paris Cardinal Mazarin* sends to Italy for that famous scenic
designer and builder of theatres, Gaspare Vigarani* (1586-1663) to build a
proper theatre for the king.
1660 - The Petit Bourbon* is torn down and Vigarani* adds a new wing to the
king's palace, the Tuileries*. Within it he builds the Salle des Machines*, the
largest, best equipped theatre in Europe.
Designed to be the last word in state-of-the-art theatrical design technology
and stage effects, the new theatre has a stage depth of 132 feet and a
proscenium of only 32 feet. This will make possible settings of increasing
complexity. The English will come to this theatre to copy the spectacles and
manner of producing them after the Restoration*.
The first object of this terrific theatrical space is to produce the shows given in
honor of Louis XIV*'s marriage.
1660 In France Louis XIV* marries Marie Therese of Spain (no doubt adding a little cement
to that treaty he signed with Spain last year.)
In England the Rump Parliament in England got rid of Richard Cromwell* last year (1659)
and dissolves itself. A new parliament comes in, sits as a convention and invites Charles II* to
come home and be king. We now begin the English period known as the Restoration*, for
obvious reasons.
Although it does not seem relevant at the moment (it will later) Charles II*'s brother James*,
duke of York and a Catholic, marries Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon.
By this time the English colonies in America have a population of about 80,000.
English Restoration Theatre Begins
1660 - In England the theatre quickly revives but in a new French pattern. Charles II* has
found the French system of theatre monopoly a sensible one so he sets his Master of Revels*,
Sir Henry Herbert* (who did this job for Charles' father) to work assigning monopolies in the
English form of patents* . This is a licence to perform. Herbert gives out three of these to
William Beeston* at the Salisbury Court*, Michael Mohun* at the Red Bull*, and John
Rhodes* at the Cockpit*. Unfortunately Charles* isn't aware that Herbert is moving so fast
and he (Charles*) gives a monopoly on theatrical production in London to two other guys.
The first goes to Sir William Davenant*'s troupe called The King's Men* (even though, in the
French manner, it now includes women.) They appear at a hastily converted tennis court,
Lincoln's Inn Fields*. It takes them a year to fix it up and open. It has the first English
permanent proscenium arch behind the apron.
The second patent is given to Thomas Killigrew* (1612-83), a dramatist before the theatre
closing and one of those who went with the court into French exile. It takes him a little longer
to get his troupe, the Duke's Men*, up and running since he is busy building the Theatre
Royal*.
It takes all year for these men who get the king's patents to suppress the three Herbert gave
licences to. Eventually things get sorted out. The rush to pin down monopolies is further
complicated by a guy named George Jolly* who has been running an English touring
company in Germany and had a promise from Charles back in 1655. The king adds him to the
list but the other two patent holders manage to diddle him out of it and hire him to teach
actors. The upshot of this confusion over licensing is that Herbert and the office of Master of
Revels looses the power to license theatres and companies in London. He has to be content
with regulating the rest of England and collecting fees for licensing plays. This leaves
Davenant* and Killigrew* with almost complete control over theatrical performance in
London. This will put a real crimp in the development of the English theatre and be a terrific
help in getting theatre started in the English colonies in America. There is one more patent
granted but it is for a theatre in Ireland. John Ogilby* who held the patent before the civil war
gets it renewed now. Since there is very little audience established in London this limited
monopoly business makes economic sense. The audiences are made up of the court, upper-
class would-be courtiers, their hanger-ons, rakes, bullies and ladies of pleasure. Many of these
last are involved with the king at one time or another.
At first, the plays put on by these companies are revivals of pre-commonwealth successes.
Soon they will come up with something like the new kind of comedies of manners* so
popular in Paris. Since they now use actresses, in the French tradition, they will be able to do
more realistic satires on current manners. Before the Civil War, only men were permitted to
act on the stage. The view was that having women on stage was immoral. They will also try
their hands at "heroic" tragedies. These kinds of plays will be popular for the next twenty
years. One of the more interesting and informative characters of this period is Samuel Pepys*,
who keeps an extensive Diary* including tons of gossipy information about the theatre.
Fortunately it will be published.
1660 - Moliere* comes out with Sganarelle, or le cocu imaginaire*.
1661 In France Cardinal Mazarin* dies, Louis XIV* begins to run the country himself. He
appoints Jean Baptiste Colbert* (fl.1661-83) Minister of Finance. Since he has a 22 million
franc debt this is a smart move. Colbert will be a significant figure in the fortunes of France.
In England the new parliament is fiercely Royalist and passes the Act of Uniformity enforcing
the use of the Anglican Prayer Book. Around 2,000 ministers leave the church in disgust.
More emigration to America. They also pass an interesting series of Acts repressing religious
practice other than the approved Anglican. The Five Mile Act orders dissenting ministers to
remain at least that far from any place they had ever preached in and forbids them teaching at
schools. These stringent acts will lead eventually, be;ieve it or not, to the industrial revolution.
1661 - Moliere* is granted an annual pension by Louis XIV*, and his troupe performs
exclusively at the Palais Royal*. He puts on L'ecole des maris* [School for husbands*] and a
court entertainment, The Bores*. His works poke fun at many contemporary affectations and
at times makes the populace angry because of his disdain for conventions.
In London Sir William Davenant*'s The Siege of Rhodes* opens at his new theatre Lincoln's
Inn Fields*.
1662 - The first theatre built in Great Britain after the Restoration* opens in Ireland. It is John
Ogilby*'s The Smock Alley* in Dublin.
1662 - Moliere* comes out with L'ecole des femmes* [School for Wives*.]
In London the Theatre Royal* opens under the patent of Killigrew*.
1662 Charles II* marries a Portuguese princess, Catherine of Branganza, who does not
produce any children. This is apparently not Charles II*'s fault as the results of his many
laisons with numerous mistresses shows.
In America by this time the population of Virginia is about 40,000. The number of African
slaves is increasing because the southern plantations are labor intensive. A liberal charter is
granted to Connecticut. There are now about 7,000 Dutch in the New Amsterdam area. This
year, as part of the ongoing altercation with the Netherlands, the more populous English
assisted by naval forces, take over the the Dutch colony and rename it New York (after the
king's brother, the Duke of York.)
1663 - The German, Furttenbach* the elder publishes his final work containing information
on theatrical production, Noble Mirror of Art*. This book has a terrific section on perspective
scenery and "Four Different Methods of Lighting." Since all this theatre stuff is going on
indoors, lighting has become very important. There are oil lamps, with mica reflectors behind
them, fixed in brackets on the back of wings, on the overhead borders, behind a board shield
as foot lights and, in a reflective tin box, as an area light for a throne or other spots needing
highlighting.
1663 In France, that smart Minister of Finance, Colbert*, forms the American colony of New
France, up in Canada, into a province and makes Quebec its capital. He also founds an artistic
academy in Paris, the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.
1663 The plague* (Bubonic), which has been active around Europe for some -64 years,
reaches Holland in 1663-64. It gets pretty bad with 1,000 dying every week in Amsterdam
alone. This is bad news since this part of Europe is a major import-export spot and the plague
can travel all over from here. In the summer of 1664 England closes down trade with the
Dutch in hopes of preventing the plague from reaching the British Isles.
1664 There is a comet this year, as the English gossip Pepys* tells us. This astronomical
"sign" together with that plague in Holland makes the English nervous and they consider
going to war with the Dutch. There is terrible weather this winter. Much too much rain and
long, hard freezes.
1664 - In England we are beginning to get the earliest of those Restoration* comedies, Love
in a Tub* by Geroge Etherege*. We also get a heroic tragedy, The Indian Queen*, by John
Dryden* (1631-1700) .
In Dresden between now and 1667 they put up an opera house.
Racine*
1664 - Jean Racine* (1639-99), having been brought up by his grandparents and an aunt who
becomes the Abbess of Port-Royal* (Jansenists*), escapes to Paris and is quickly accepted in
literary circles. This year Moliere* puts on Racine* 's first play, the tragedy, La Thebaide*. It
is successful. He will raise French tragedy to its peak.
Racine* uses the strict Unities set up by the French Academy to his advantage. He uses the
obligatory simple plots and creates very complex characters. He solves the thorny problems of
sticking to one place and a short time by having these characters fight inner battles between
duties and desires. The locale and action are set by opening each play with the protagonist
telling all to a confidante. Thereafter the play progresses through interior action as the hero or
heroine fights psychological battles within themselves.
Racine*'s plays:
Britannicus* - 1669
La Thebaide* - 1664 Bernice* - 1670

Alexandre le Grand* - 1665 Bajazet* - 1672
Amdromaque* - 1667 Mithridate* - 1673
Les Plaideurs* - 1668 Iphigenie* - 1674
[his only comedy] Phedre* - 1677
1665 This is the year of English disaster. The winter's hard freeze doesn't break until March
and at that time Pepys* tells us of a second comet, bigger and brighter than last year's.
England declares war on Holland. But with the spring thaw and warmer weather we get the
great Plague* of London. A guy named Daniel Defoe* (who is only five at this time) will
write a really harrowing account of this in his book A Journal of the Plague Year*. Between
July and October at least 68,596 people die in England. As we saw in earlier plagues, this is
bad news for the theatre. There is worse to come.
1665 - Moliere*'s company becomes known as the King's Players* but he also has to help out
with the Comedie-Ballets*. He produces and writes a series of these, with singing and
dancing. Lully* composes the music for them. Moliere* also accepts Racine*'s second play,
Alexandre le Grand*, but two weeks after his production opens Racine* lets the company at
the Hotel de Bourgogne* do it in direct competition. This makes Moliere* pretty mad, but
there is more to come.
1665 - In England one of those writers of heroic tragedy, Roger Boyle* (1621-79), does his
first play, The Tragedy of Mustapha*.
In Spain Phillip IV* dies and court performances cease for the next five years.
1665 - In America we hear of the first play in English, Ye Bear and ye Cub* being done in
Virginia. All theatre in the new world is strictly amateur. This is the earliest record of any
theatrical performance in the American colonies. There is a record of three men being arrested
in Virginia for performing this playlet, also called The Bear and the Cub*. Northern colonies
are largely under the Puritan influence which forbids theatre, and besides, most people are too
busy just trying to survive. The New World is a harsh one.
1665 Exploration is still going on in America where the French Marquette and -75 Jolliet are
busy exploring the Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas rivers. The English are still bunched
up in the fertile land east of the Appalachian mountain range.
1666 In England, this is the year of the great fire which destroys most of London. There have
been weeks of drought through the end of August. The fire breaks out on Saturday, September
1, in a bakery in Pudding Lane near London Bridge, and spreads over the city. Six days later,
as Pepys* tells us, the city is a smoldering ruin. Since Pepys* is running around London,
carrying messages from the king to rouse fire fighters, he gives us a terrific eyewitness
account. Old London, within the walls, is gone and the fire spreads to later additions. Only 75
acres within the city remain unburnt. An additional 63 acres outside the walls perish. Ninety
percent of the living quarters are destroyed and 200,000 people homeless. All of the finest
public and private city buildings are gone.
The fire is variously attributed to Catholics, French, Dutch and foreigners in general. Many of
these are killed in riots, arrested and otherwise attacked. Hatred against Catholics intensifies
and stiffer laws are passed against them. London booksellers lose their entire stock. The
financial loss is incalculable although it is estimated at ten million pounds. The English
economy, already strained by the war, is now in ruins. Hunger and riots continue through the
winter. The rebuilding of London will take years. Much of the prominent work will be
designed by Sir Christopher Wren*, of whom we will hear more later in relation to his
theatres.
1666 - In the great fire of London there is great loss of theatre records, scripts, wardrobes,
buildings and scenery. One of the unexpected benefits of the devasting fire is the opportunity
to rebuild much of the city. A gifted architect, Sir Christopher Wren* (1632-1723) proposes
plans for the rebuilding of the city. He will be best known for designing and rebuilding St
Paul's Cathedral. We are interested in him because he rebuilds several prominent theatres. His
theatre designs bring the latest theatre architecture for the Italinate style of production to
England. Scenic delights that had been reserved for the British court before the fire, will soon
be available to the paying public.
1667 In England there is now the Rebuilding Act, requiring better sanitation, wider streets and
building of brick or stone for the new London.
1667 - Racine* gets his mistress, the actress Mlle. du Parc*, to leave Moliere* 's company and
come to the Hotel de Bourgogne* to play the lead in his new play, Amdromaque*. This
finishes it for Moliere* and he never speaks to Racine* again. Interestingly enough the poor
lady dies the following year and there is some nasty gossip that Racine* had her removed to
make way for his new mistress, the actress Mlle. Champmesle*, who comes from the Marais*
theatre to play Heromine to Du Parc's Andromaque. Anyway, the play is an outstanding
success and puts Racine* right up there rivaling Corneille*.
1668 - In Italy the box set (that is a set which has side walls and a ceiling rather than just
wings and borders) is apparently in use. A director of theatrical activities in Mantua, Fabrizio
Carini Motta* (1627-1699), comes out with a work called Construction of Theatres and
Theatrical Machinery*. In it Motta* describes how the flats attached to the chariots can have
another flat hinged to them so that they can be folded out to fill that empty space between
each set of wings. This box set doesn't seem to be widely used. Motta gives a good summary
of theatre stage practice up to this time.
In Austria they open an elaborate court theatre in Vienna to stage works by composers and
librettists of opera they want to bring in from Italy. This begins Vienna's reign as the most
important center for opera production in Europe for the next eighty years.
Racine* comes out with his only comedy, Les Plaideurs*. which is intended for the Italian
actors at the Palais-Royal*. However the leading Italian had just left town and so it is done at
the Hotel de Bourgogne*. After a slow start it really takes off in popularity and is constantly
revived.
1669 - Racine* comes out with another tragedy, Britannicus,* which isn't very popular.
1670 In America the Hudson Bay company is founded to cash in on the increased value of
beaver skins. This will be relevant in setting the northern boundary of what will become the
United States.
1670 - This year there is an unfortunate run in between Racine* and Corneille* . They are
both working on plays with the same subject matter. The production of Racine*'s Bernice*
hits the stage a week before Moliere* produces Corneille's Tite et Bernice*. Everybody likes
Racine*'s play better.
1671 - In England, another writer of heroic tragedy, Elkanah Settle* (1648-1724), comes out
with Cambyses, King of Persia*. This same year George Villiers* comes out with a comedy,
The Rehearsal*, which burlesques the typical themes and plot devices of these heroic works.
This comedy will remain popular a lot longer than the tragedies.
One of those new theatres designed by Sir Christopher Wren* opens. This one is the Dorset
Garden Theatre* for Davenant*'s company.
1672 - Racine*'s Bajazet* goes on stage.
In England the Theatre Royal* burns down and Killigrew* commissions another on the same
site.
1673 - Racine*'s Mithridate* joins his last year's play in showing historical, oriental subjects
overcome by degrading passions. There is some criticism for his abandonment of Corneille*'s
heroic mood but he is now the leading dramatist in France.
Moliere* dies after one of the early performances of Le Malade Imaginaire, written this year.
That religious ban on church rites for actors is still very strong and they have to bury him in
an unmarked grave at night. Even though there are no public Church ceremonies thousands
follow the torchlit burial procession through the streets.
At his death Lully* takes over the Palais-Royal* and Moliere*'s troupe joins with that of the
Theatre Marais* to open a new theater in the rue Guenegaud*. This will only be a temporary
arrangement and Louis XIV* begins to plan the future of theatre in France.
1673 In England, the King's brother, James,* marries a second wife. His two daughters by the
first are Protestant and marry Protestants (Mary* to William of Orange* and Anne* to Prince
George of Denmark.) This second wife is Catholic and will produce a son, also named James.
This will make for a sticky succession battle later, because Jame's brother, the king (Charles
II) has no legitimate heirs.
1674 - In London the new Drury Lane Theatre* opens with Killigrew*'s company. It, too, is
apparently designed by Wren*.
1674 - Racine* quits fooling with oriental subjects and goes back to the Greeks for this year's
tragedy, Iphigenie*. It's a brilliant success.
1677 - Racine*'s career is about to come to an abrupt end. This year he comes out with his
greatest work, Phedre*. But, some of his enemies get a hack writer named Pradon* to do a
play on the same subject and have it produced two days after Phedre* opens. His enemies
pack the audiences and make sure that the hack's play gets more acclaim than Racine*'s does.
Needless to say Racine* gets huffy about this (despite the fact that he had done the same thing
to Corneille*, back in 1670) and when he gets the chance this same year to become Louis
XIV*'s historiographer, he gives up writing for the theatre, marries and raises seven kids.
Later he will get religion, make up with his home town, and go back to Port-Royal* to study
and record contemporary French history.
In England the last of those heroic tragedy writers, Nathaniel Lee* (1653-1692), comes out
with The Rival Queens*. This seems to be the tail end of the heroic stuff because John
Dryden* is starting a new tragic style based on the French neoclassic simplicity and rules. He
writes All for Love* this year, as a "regularized" adaptation of Shakespeare*'s Anthony and
Cleopatra*.
1678 In England the debate over who should succeed Charles II* and the big problem is
religion. Ever since the Civil War (which ended only 18 years ago) the Protestants have been
afraid of loosing their hard-won rights and the Catholics have been scheming to regain those
that they lost (when England turned Anglican under Henry VIII)*. Now the Catholics are
arguing and conniving to put Charles II's* Catholic brother, James,* on the throne and make it
legal for the king to be catholic. The Anglicans and Protestants are working to forbid any king
to be Catholic. Now, in the midst of this Catholic-not Catholic debate, we have a guy named
Titus Oates* who fabricates what will be called the "Popish Plot," in which the king (Charles
II*) is to be eliminated and his catholic brother (James,*) is to be put on the throne. The plot
fails, but the attempt puts the country in a tizzy.
1679 A new parliament passes the Exclusion Bill (excluding Catholics from the throne) to
prevent the Catholic James* from getting to the throne but the House of Lords throws out the
bill. Charles II* has to sign the Act of Habeas Corpus to prevent arbitrary imprisonment but
the country is seething with revolutionary fervor.
One of Charles II*'s illegitimate sons tours the country trying to raise support but the king
declares him illegitimate so that his brother James* can inherit. Plots and counter-plots
abound and things are messy.
The Comedie Francaise*
1680 - In France the Comedie Francaise* is formed making the world's first national theater.
It happens this way: In 1679, Mlle. Champmesle*, the Hotel de Bourgogne*'s principal tragic
actress, left to join the Guenegaud* troupe. This brought on a crisis in the Parisian theatre
with everybody trying to inherit the prestige of Moliere and not doing much theatre. Since the
crown has been planning to bring to theatre something of the order and excellence the
Academy was bringing to literature, the dilemma is resolved by a crown order to form a
national company with a monopoly of spoken drama in French. [This was the way this period
started but it got out of hand.]
The organization of the Comedie Francaise* resembles that of it's original medieval parent,
the Confrerie de la Passion*. It is a cooperative society where each permanent member actor
holds a share, with the new ones holding some fraction (a half or a quarter) of a share. The
shareholders make all company decisions from choosing the plays to choosing their own parts
in them. There are some variations since the casting of a new play is done by the author, who
usually writes his plays with certain actors in mind. Other roles in revivals are cast by the
company in consultation. When the society decides the cast, actors can't refuse a role.
They split the profits according to the full or partial share each holds. Similar to the Academy,
full members, called societaire*s, are only selected to replace a member who has died or
retired. The actor with the longest service is the head, or doyen*, of the company. Actors who
want to enter the society are chosen on merit. They pick a role in a comedy and a tragedy to
perform for their debut. If the members like what they see, the new kid on the block is taken
on probation. For this entrance level work they get a fixed salary and are called
pensionnaires*. This period can last from a few weeks to years before an opening occurs in
the permanent membership. The retirement benefits are pretty good. After 20 years service an
actor or actress is entitled to a pension for life.
The new company is to perform in the Guenegaud* and is officially called the Comedie
Francaise* to distinguish it from the other official resident Paris theatre troupe, the Comedie
Italienne*, which is the name now given to the commedia dell'arte* performers, the Italian
troupe, which is now assigned a home in the Hotel de Bourgogne*.
*****************************
Afterword
We leave the French with the last of their great neoclassic playwrights dead or retired, their
organization of actors, the Comedie Francaise, up and running, and the development of
architecture, scenery, and the ballet, all well under way. We will take note of developments in
France as they occur, but their first great theatre period is over. The Comedie Francaise* will
be a conservative group, conserving the great works and styles of the past and gradually
becoming stale until things get shaken up in the French Revolution.
The next major theatrical advancements in playwrighting and acting will occur in England as
the French, and through them the Italian, influence flavors the English theatre. The Italians,
French and Germans will be advancing theatre architecture and scenery as they concern
themselves with opera and ballet more than straight theatre.
next CHAP11
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Theatre in the Age of Reason
1680-1770
Introduction The English Restoration* has, of course, already begun in 1660. This last great theatrical
flourish of a society led by kings and nobility will gradually fade into a society led by the
mercantile middle class. Theatre will adapt itself to serve new masters. Gradually, but
irreversibly, theatre will find new audiences and change to meet their interests and
preferences.
In England the merchant class is already rising on the tide of investments and ventures around
the world. With the American colonies off to a profitable start, the English, Dutch and French
are staking out colonial areas in India and the Far East. The rise of the powerful mercantile
class is given a boost by the changes in attitude and emphasis among the philosophers and
intellectual leaders.
The Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Reason* has already begun in the philosophical works of Rene Descartes (15961650). In 1637 he wrote, in A Discourse on Method*, "I think, therefore I am." The neoclassic
views of the Renaissance are beginning to change, through the expressions of "natural
philosophers" into a new outlook. This new view holds that reason is the way the mind
naturally works and, if given a good environment (free of ignorance, superstition, bad laws,
etc.), reason will grow and flower as nature intended. This is also the Age of Enlightenment*
where reason is applied to public policy. Moreover, it is an Age of Faith, in which the central
concern is addressing the problem, moral and political, of how to insure the rule of right
reason here on earth. The Age of Reason* will continue throughout the period covered in this
chapter until it comes into collision with the next great idea, Romanticism*.
The Age of Enlightenment* is particularly evident in a new scientific way of looking at
things. Thinkers are finally freeing themselves from slavishly following Aristotle as they
discover that he was quite wrong about a number of things. Scientific thinkers are attempting
to be objective about what they see. In social and political thought there are new
considerations about how society should be organized and how governments should be run.
The search for "fundamental laws", like the "laws" of nature, is undertaken in all realms.
Rulers strive to run their countries in an enlightened manner for the benefit of their subjects.
Of course, "enlightenment" is interpreted differently by each ruler and mustn't infringe on
their authority. We will take note of some of the more prominent of these enlightened rulers
as we encounter them.
At the moment it may be useful to be aware of some of the major participants since this is the
time when the foundations of our current thinking are established.
Scientific progress is rapid and widespread, owing much to two early thinkers:
Francis
Bacon* (1561-1626) was an English philosopher and writer. He is particularly relevant for
advocating a new systematic analysis of knowledge, intended to replace Aristotle's deductive
logic with an inductive method in interpreting nature;
Galileo Galilei*
(1564-1642) was an Italian astronomer and physicist who conceived the three laws of motion
later formulated by Newton, improved the telescope for astronomical use and was denounced
and later tried by the Inquisition for heretical views that the earth and planets revolve around
the sun.
Scientific progress is carried on by such figures as:

Anton van
Leeuwenhoeck* (1632-1723) who improves the microscope and discovers unexpected
complexities of what can be seen, especially microorganisms. He is remembered for giving
the first accurate descriptions of a number of things he sees.
Sir Issac
Newton* (1642-1727) is an English natural philosopher and mathematician who conceives
the idea of universal gravitation (1665.)
G. W. Leibniz* (1646-1716)
is a German philosopher and mathematician. His work, together with Newton*'s, develops
calculus. In his principal work in theology he discusses the problem of evil and a defense of
optimism [see Voltaire below.]
David Hartley* is an English
physician and philosopher who lays the foundation for psychology and is active in education.
Benjamin Franklin* (1706-1790) is an American
statesman, scientist and philosopher [which makes it difficult to know where to put him.] His
experiments with electricity place him among the scientists, but his work in founding libraries
and establishing the postal system need to be remembered. His political accomplishments will
be addressed later.
Carl Linnaeus* (von Linne) (1707-1778) is a Swedish
botanist and the father of the modern system of botany.
Antoine Laurent Lavoiser* (1743-1794) is a French chemist and the founder of modern
chemistry. He names oxygen, puts forth a theory of the formation of chemical compounds,
and, with others, works out the system of chemical nomenclature that is the basis of our
present system.
The seventeenth century produces a number of thinkers whose investigations lead them to
reappraisals of current views in the Christian religion. The old architecture of a Christian
cosmos with God at the top and man in the center is being rethought. The emphasis in now on
rational inquiry and a search for empirical data to support views.
Philosophic progress is based on some earlier men:
Rene
Descartes* (1596-1650) "Cartesian rationalism" is the leading theory whereby man might, by
applying Decartes method of enquiry, discover basic axioms on which to build a "social
science" as accurate and valid as physical sciences. We owe our current Social Sciences to
this guy.
Baruch Spinoza* (1632-77) is a
Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish extraction. He is a follower of Descartes* and the
most eminent expounder of pantheism.
John Locke* (1632-1704) is better
remembered by the general population for his work in political theory [see below.] He asserts
that man is the product of his environment.
George Berkeley* (1685-1753) is an Irish
philosopher who lives in America from 1728-31. David Hume* (1711-1776) is a Scots
philosopher known for his philosophical skepticism (Humism.)
Immanuel Kant* (1724-1804) is a German metaphysician and transcendental
philosopher and the founder of critical philosophy. He seeks to determine the laws and limits
of man's knowledge while avoiding dogmatism. Liberal in his religious views, he champions
freedom and sympathizes with American and French people in their struggles for liberty.
Religion:
Travelers and explorers find people worshiping deities, totally unconnected with Christianity,
that give every evidence of virtue and morality. This leads to rethinking ideas of religion. The
intelligentsia consider that religion should be based on rationality and move to "deism" and
"natural virtue" instead of "original sin." There is the growth of "natural religion", especially
in England. This is an attempt to bring religion into a viable relation with the explosion of
scientific discoveries (such as Galileo*'s discovery that the solar system revolves around the
sun) and a rational view of the universe.
Political theory:
John Locke* begins the development with his 1690 publication Two Treatises of
Government* in which he puts forth the view that government is responsible to the governed
as a consequence of a mythical contract entered into when society was first formed. If this
contract is broken by a ruler, then the community has the right to rebel. This idea, supported
by the success of the English Civil War, will grow and spread, influencing the revolutions of
the eighteenth century and gradually decreasing the number of "absolute" rulers in the western
world. His followers and elaborators in France include:
Montesquieu* (16891755) who is a lawyer and political philosopher.
Clause Adrien Helvetius*
(1715-1771) is a French philosopher who writes De l'Esprit* in 1758. This work is
condemned by the Sorbonne and publicly burned because in it he expounds his doctrine of
sensationalism, or sensualism. The coming Romantic movement will like it.
Jean Jacques
Rousseau* (1712-1778) who lives mainly in Paris and is an associate of Diderot. He begins
the notion of the "noble savage."
Denis Diderot* (1713-1784) is best
known for editing the Encyclopedia* although he also writes two plays and does a lot of art
and theatre criticism. One of his more influential acts is when he sells his library to Catherine
II* of Russia.
Marquis de Condorcet* (1743-94) is active politically in
the aftermath of the French Revolution (with the Girondists) writing the Progress of the
Human Spirit*.
Economic theory:
Adam Smith* will write the Wealth of Nations* in 1776, which puts forth the notion of
"enlightened self-interest."
Authors who reflect the Enlightenment:
Alexander Pope* (16881733) is an English poet. He attempts a systematic survey of human nature reflected in his
Essay on Man* (1733.) This is an age of encyclopedias when a number of writers strive to put
all this new knowledge together with the old.
Enlightened despotism is found in several rulers:
Peter I the Great*
(1672-1725) renowned for introducing European civilization into Russia and raising his
country to a recognized place among European powers.
Frederick the Great*
(1712-1786), becomes the King of Prussia. He is best known for his military prowess but also
excels as an enlightened administrator and is an admirer of George Washington*.
Catherine II the Great* (1729-96) of Russia is also known for
extending her empire, but she identifies with the Russian people, corresponds with Voltaire*
and is a disciple of the encyclopedists.
Joseph II*
(1741-90) of Austria/Germany and Holy Roman Emperor is one of the best examples of the
"benevolent despot," known for his Edict of Toleration.
The combination of the ideas of the Enlightenment* and the inclinations of the middle class
lead to theatre fare in which "sentiments" predominate. The triumph of innocent virtue
rewarded and evil forces punished delights the public most. Both comedy and serious plays
are transformed into "sentimental" forms. Aristocratic nobles turn more to opera and ballet
and regular theatre caters to the increasingly affluent middle-class merchants. We will,
therefore, have to follow architectural and scenic innovations through Italian and Austrian
opera presented by and for nobility, while acting and playwrighting flourishes in the public
theatre.
1680 - The English Restoration Continues and Becomes the Age of Great Acting
Introduction:
The actual restoration of the king is now twenty years in the past. The plague and fire have
come and gone and rebuilding London is well in hand. The king, his court and all sorts of
hangers-on make up the mainstay of the theatre audience. In this limited society everyone
knows everyone else and they all live in London. Those who live outside London are regarded
as culturally deprived and of no account in "society." The playwrights and members of the
company know their audiences personally and reflect their interests and tastes. The rest of the
English population is still suspicious of the theatre and we will hear more of their views.
The English Restoration Theatre at this time:
WHERE After the various fires the important usable theatres in London are: Christopher Wren*'s
Dorset Garden Theatre*, built by Davenant* to accommodate operatic spectacles; Drury Lane
Theatre*, seating 650 people and built by Killigrew*; Lincoln's Inn Fields* seats less, used
earlier by Davenant* and not in use at this time.
The proscenium arch is now a permanent feature, but the English stages feature a large apron
in front of the arch. It is on this forestage that all the action takes place. It is also here that
audience seating begins to encroach on both sides. The scenery is behind the arch where the
stage floor is raked, there are grooves for wings and shutters, and traps in the floor and flying
machinery hanging from above. The roll drop is another mainstay of the background scenery.
The audience space has a raked pit, at least two galleries (or balconies) and lots of boxes.
Unlike the French, there are usually benches in the pit rather than standing only.
WHO- COMPANIES
Basically there are two patent companies in London. These are the only theatre companies
permitted to put on plays in England. This does not include Ireland which has its own patent.
There are a couple of licenses for theatre in the provinces. Obviously there are also going to
be "illegal" theatres and productions. The two original patents were granted to William
Davenant* and Thomas Killigrew*. When Davenant* died in 1668 two actors, Thomas
Betterton* and Henry Harris (until 1677, then it is William Smith) take over the artistic
direction with the Davenant family controlling the finances and the patent. Killigrew* doesn't
manage his company very well and in 1682 the two companies merge.
HOW - AND WHO, ACTORS
The performances start fairly early in the afternoon since the audience doesn't go to work.
This will change gradually as the period goes on. On the stage we have actors and actresses
who began the period as shareholders but the financial arrangements are changing too. The
trend is toward paying actors a salary and providing benefit nights in which the night's
proceeds (less expenses) goes to the actor. This is becoming the way to pay playwrights too.
The author gets the proceeds of the third night of a run. This whole financial business will
gradually change, but at the moment the number of potential audience members is very small
and this means there is a definite limit to the number of performances and the number of plays
needed. We are moving into a time when the actors are more important than the plays. That is,
audiences come to see their favorite actors no matter what play they are in. The plays are
rehearsed by the playwright (if he is alive) for the first three rehearsals. After that the actors
rehearse for no more than two weeks. There is a traditional way of playing classic roles (that
is, roles in plays that are revived frequently) and it is handed down from actor to actor. [by
1750 this changes and actors try new ways of interpreting old roles] Acting style is oratorical
(or declamatory) which means that the actor with the lines comes to center stage and speaks
his lines beautifully to the assembled audience. This is logical since there are audience
members sitting on the stage and the actors can't move around with much freedom.
The scenery is made up of stock sets used over and over again, no matter what the play is. If it
takes place in a chamber it is the same chamber they used for a different play last week. The
costumes are supplied by the actors with a company wardrobe for those who don't have
something good enough. They are, of course, all contemporary clothes. That works fine for
the contemporary comedies but seems strange to us for plays that are supposed to take place,
for example, in classical Rome.
ACTRESSES Nell Gwynn* (1650-1687) brief career as a comedian and dancer 1665-69.
Elizabeth Barry* (1658-1713) leading tragic roles with Betterton*.
Anne Bracegirdle* (c. 1663-1748) in comedy of manners beginning 1680.
ACTORS Thomas Betterton* (1635-1710) is regarded as the greatest actor of his day, especially in
heroic and tragic parts. The other actors fall far behind him. The next wave of important
actors will come, in large part, from the theatre in Dublin.
WHAT The types of plays and theatrical entertainments being given in these theatres include: tragedy
written in blank verse, best seen in Thomas Otway*'s The Orphan*, (1680); an English
version of opera which uses Shakespeare*'s plays and new works by Dryden* and has spoken
passages. This is the period when Henry Purcell* (1659-1695) is starting to write incidental
music for plays; and, comedy of all kinds (of "humours", of intrigue, farce) and especially
comedy of manners*.
The most interesting and enduring plays of this period are those known as comedy of
manners* and the more important authors of these are:
Sir
George Etherege* (She Would if She Could* 1668; The Man of Mode* 1676)
William
Wycherley* (Love in a Wood* 1671, The Gentleman Dancing Master* 1672, The Country
Wife* 1675, The Plain Dealer* 1676)
William Congreve* (1670-
1729), the best known nowadays of all in this period, is yet to come. We will look at his work
later.
WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS We are coming into a period with a large number of women playwrights. They are among the
most successful dramatists of their time and some of their plays continue to be produced into
the nineteenth century. The first and best known of this band is Aphra Behn* (1641-89). She
is the first Englishwoman we know about to make a living as a writer. Her most successful
plays are comedies of intrigue, which makes sense since she spent the Dutch war being a spy.
The Rover; or, the Banish't Cavaliers*, first done in 1678, is often revived throughout the
period in a modified version. The title role is a favorite for leading actors.
The End of the Seventeenth Century
1681 - The Spanish theatrical Renaissance comes to an end with the death this year of
Calderon*. In England the leading writer of farce, Edward Ravenscroft* (fl. 1671-1697)
comes out with the popular London Cuckolds*.
1682 - Because of financial difficulties the companies of Davenant* and Killigrew* merge,
performing mainly at the Drury Lane Theatre*. The Dorset Garden Theatre* is now seldom
used.
1682 La Salle* goes down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and claims all the land
in the valley for Louis XIV. He calls it Louisiana* .
1683 In the tiny Duchy of Saxony, the town of Gotha* builds an opera house. We will hear
more from this town later in the next chapter. The Germans in Hamburg and Leipzig are also
fairly involved with opera, ballet and foreign troupes touring.
1683 Newton* explains his mathematical theory on tides and the gravitational attraction of the
sun, moon and earth. In America we find the first German immigrants.
1685 In England Charles II* dies and his Catholic brother James II* comes to the throne. He
wants a return to an absolute monarchy and a reestablishment of Catholicism as the national
religion. This is just what Parliament has been afraid of and there is strong opposition to his
views. The conflict is called the "Glorious Revolution," in which the Catholic view is
unsuccessful at the moment. However, the controversy will continue without breaking into
actual warfare. [This business of having an enforced state religion, which persecutes
everybody who doesn;t belong to that particualr faith, is just the thing that will lead the
American colonies to insist on putting the separation of church and ctate business into their
Constitution.] In the Far East, all Chinese ports are opened to foreign trade. In France Louis
XIV* revokes the Edict of Nantes* (that agreement that permittedreligious tolerance) and
exiles thousands of French Protestants (called Huguenots*). Many of these Protestants
emigrate to North America and many others go to England and Holland. They tend to be very
industrious and skilled workers which is a big help in the colonies.
1686 - In Paris the French composer Jean Baptiste Lully* (who wrote music for Moliere*)
comes out with his opera, Armide et Renaud*.
1687 - In England, Aphra Behn* brings out a pantomime-farce, The Emperor of the Moon*,
which is not interesting in itself but is a forerunner of a theatrical trend that will lead to the
English pantomime.
1687 The English Catholics win a victory when parliament passes exemptions for Catholics
from the Test Act. Both Catholics and Dissenters are benefited by suspension of the penal
laws against them through the king's Declaration of Indulgence. Another crisis is on the way
over this attempt to restore Catholic influence in the country.
1688 - Charles Davenant sells his controlling interest in the theatre to his brother Alexander.
This may seem irrelevant now but it makes trouble later.
1688 England is so mad at James II* about the Catholic business and his attempts to restore
absolute monarchy that open revolt seems a real possibility. Instead of a real armed conflict,
parliament invites Netherlands's ruler, William of Orange* (James* II's daughter Mary*'s
husband, remember?), to bring over Dutch troops and help them against the king, his fatherin-law. He does and James* quits without a fight at the moment, joining his Catholic wife and
son in exile in France. This brings to an end the "Glorious Revolution." Parliament meets in
convention and decides to offer the crown to William and Mary* jointly. However parliament
insists on certain conditions. Parliament requires the rulers submission to parliamentary
consent on important matters including who gets picked for succession to the throne. They
both accept these conditions and this marks the beginning of the British constitutional
monarchy*.
1689 - Racine* (now in retirement at Port Royal) is persuaded to write a play (Esther*) for
Mme. de Maintenon*'s girl's school at St. Cyr. By the author's request, it is not performed
professionally during his lifetime. It is very successful anyway.
The Comedie Francaise* moves into a new theatre built especially for them out of a tennis
court of the Etoile* in St. Germain-des-Pres. In England Henry Purcell* writes his opera,
Dido and Aeneas*, with a libretto by Nahum Tate* (who is better remembered for his
adaptations of Shakespeare's tragedies with happy endings.)
1689 James II* tries to make a comeback and lands with an army in Ireland but William II*
beats him soundly and James gives up next year. William II and Mary I* have to accept a
Declaration of Right which confirms the ancient rights and privileges of the people before
they will be permitted to rule. They accept and parliament ratifies the declaration as the Bill of
Rights. This is terrific for England but it doesn't cover the rights of overseas colonists. This
oversight will lead to a later revolution in America. Meanwhile William of Orange* (William
II* back home in Orange) signs on as William III* of England and Mary becomes Mary II* of
England. They also sign on to a religious Toleration Act, but the Test Act (which tests your
religious affiliation) has not been repealed and there is still a lot of controversy. After all that
parliamentary leadership since the first Charles fight in 1640, we now have two British
political parties, the Whigs and the Tories. The Whigs back the notion that the throne can be
assigned by parliament and the Tories are the last of the Royalists and insist that the throne
belongs by heredity and divine right.
Peter I the Great* seizes the Russian throne from his half-sister and begins his attempts to turn
Russia into a modern state. In America the European settlers conflict with the native Indians
and the Iroquois massacre French settlers near Montreal Canada. To the west a French
explorer gets to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
1690 - In England, as the financial management of the theatre changes, ownership of theatres
pass into the hands of non-theatre people. Among theatre artists, the actor-manager emerges
as the one position that will become the dominant force in shaping British theatre through the
end of our period. The actor-manager is also the one who has the biggest financial stake in a
theatre company.
1690 The English found Calcutta (India) with a colonial administrator for enlarging trade.
1691 - Racine* writes another play (Athalie*) for the girl's school at St. Cyr. This, too, is
successful but he won't let this one be performed professionally during his lifetime either.
Later (in 1721) this play will be performed and become known as one of his masterpieces.
1692 - In England, the dramatist Nahum Tate* is made poet laureate. He has rewritten
Shakespeare's* tragedies with happy endings to appeal to the sentimental audiences. Tate*'s
versions of these Shakespearean plays will prevail on the stage through the nineteenth
century.
1693 - Alexander Davenant (remember he bought the controlling interest in the theatre?)
leaves England to escape his creditors. It turns out a lawyer named Christopher Rich* had put
up a lot of the money. Now Rich seizes control of the theatre even though he doesn't know
anything about the business. He turns out to be a really lousy guy to work for and theatrical
mutiny begins to brew.
William Congreve*
1693 - This is the year when William Congreve* (1670-1729) comes out with his first
brilliant comedy, Old Bachelor*. He will write four more before giving up the theatre in
disgust. His comedies are praised for their wit, grace and brilliance of the dialogue. He will
also defend the morality of the stage against Jeremy Collier* [see below, 1698.] His other
comedies are:
Double Dealer* (1693)
Love For Love* (1695)
The Way of the World* (1700)
1694 The English queen, Mary II*, dies without children and the monarchy's succession
become a matter for serious debate. This is the year the Bank of England is founded. Now you
can borrow money from an institution instead of a moneylender.
1695 - In England William Congreve* comes out with Love for Love*. In this play, and a
later one, Congreve* brings the comedy of manners to its peak. The brilliant scenes are
marked by the wittiest dialogue and terrific characterizations.
This is also the year that the major performers, led by Betterton*, break away from the
management of Rich* at the Drury Lane Theatre.* The actors revolt and persuade William
III* to give them a license to form a second troupe. He does, they do, and they open up the
Lincoln's Inn Fields* Theatre.
1696 - The new more sentimental and moral trend shows up in a work by one of the most
prominent rising playwrights, Colley Cibber* (1671-1757.) Love's Last Shift* is the first of a
number of plays that show profligate characters pursuing their fashionable objectives until, at
the end, they have a change of heart, reform, and convert to a sentimental moral view.
1696 England establishes the Board of Trade to promote the interests of merchants and
industry.
1697 - The commedia dell'arte* troupe is expelled from Paris following an alleged attack on
Louis XIV*'s second wife. Parisian theater is reduced to the Comedie Francaise* and the
Opera.
In England, Ravenscroft* comes out with his other popular farce, The Anatomist*.
1697 This year Peter* The Great of Russia goes traveling abroad incognito. He is off for a
year and a half to study European ways of life in Prussia, Holland, England and Vienna. He
will learn a lot.
In England and Europe a popular means of transportation is the Sedan chair.
The French court of Versailles is the model for European courts.
In England, Daniel Defoe* is writing and recommends income tax in his Essay on Projects*
which is full of commercial and social proposals far ahead of his time. He will turn to fiction
later.
1698 - In England, Jeremy Collier* makes an attack on current playwrighting which has
considerable merit. A Short View of the Immorality and Profaness of the English Stage*
emphasizes neoclassic doctrine that theatre should teach and please. He makes a good case
that current English plays don't do either one. This promotes some changes in playwrighting.
Dryden* and a few others make public apologies but Congreve* protests and, after one last
effort, will give up playwrighting for good. New plays now show a move toward a more
conservative moral position and increasing sentimentality. That is, the good are sorely tried by
evil, triumph in the end, and are rewarded while the evil are punished.
1698 In England, what with all these new foods being imported from distant parts, chocolate
and coffee are becoming very fashionable. The Brits open coffee and chocolate houses. These
will become the headquarters of those new political parties. Mrs. White's Chocolate House
opens this year. This will become home to the Tories* (the royalist party).
1699 - The English playwrighting trend toward moral and sentimental comedy shows up in
The Constant Couple* by George Farquhar* (1678-1707). Farquhar* manages to preserve wit
in his plays but avoids problems of moral controversy and sets his plays in the country (which
is more conservative and moral) rather than in the fashionable (and wicked) city.
1699-1702 - Over in America Richard Hunter* obtains permission to give theatrical

performances, but there is no evidence that he actually does so. Students present plays at
Harvard and William and Mary colleges.
1700 - Congreve*'s last, and most brilliant, play, The Way of the World*, goes on the stage. It
is full of fops, intrigue, foolish men and women, all driven by their desire for reputation and
money. The play sparkles with witty dialogue. The leading pair of lovers, Millamant and
Mirabell, show how the wise and prudent can reach a marriage agreement that can survive
among the dangerous ways of their peculiar world. After this play both the world and its ways
begin to change.
1700 In Spain the new King is a French Bourbon, Philip V*, and the Spanish Renaissance
comes to an end. We will hear only occasionally from Spain as an important part of western
civilization from here on.
In America the Hudson Bay Company is founded to take advantage of the increasing
popularity, and, of course, value, of beaver skins.
In Russia, Peter* has returned from his travels abroad and begins all sorts of changes. He
changes the old Russian calendar to the Julian calendar* used in Europe. Opposing the
archconservative church, he makes a start on social reforms.
In Germany, Berlin to be precise, unmarried women are taxed for their spinster state.
1700 - In France there are only two legitimate troupes in Paris: the opera and the Comedie
Francaise.* But, they have competition from the theatres at the fairs. These fairs are not the
week long livestock shows we are used to now. These are a combination of a trade fair and a
semi-permanent international market. The French fairs have been big time international
affairs since the early middle ages. The two biggest are the St. Germain which runs from
February to Easter, and the St. Laurent which goes from the end of June to the end of October.
Obviously these events are in need of entertainment as a regular ingredient. The French
prohibition against any theatrical group (other than the two legitimate theatres) putting on
performances depends on the definition of "legitimate" as a production in which there is only
spoken dialogue. This definition enables them to assign certain theatres for the production of
Opera, ballet and pantomime, while reserving two for the "legitimate" theatre. This distinction
leads, as it does in England, to troupes producing plays with music in them to evade the
restriction.
1701 Since the French and English have been fighting each other off and on for hundreds of
years, it isn't suprising that the French King, Louis XIV,* recognizes the "Old Pretender",
(James, the son of James II*) as James III* of England. Louis will help the "Jacobite" cause
by funding attempts on behalf of James III* to regain the English throne. It doesn't work, but
it sure makes the English unhappy.
In America, Yale College is founded in New Haven, Connecticut
German Theatre Begins To Stir - 1700
The Peace of Westphalia* (1648) had put an end to the Thirty Years War*, marked the end of
the Holy Roman Empire* and begins the modern European state system. The war left an
impoverished and ravaged Germany. Economic decline continued into the end of the
seventeenth century. Consequently, it is only in the courts of those segments who are able to
make economic progress that culture begins to raise a tentative head. Keep in mind that this
part of Europe, still technically the Holy Roman Empire*, is made up of some 300 separate
principalities, bishoprics and Free Cities. For the sake of convenience it is usually called
Germany although it includes a lot of adjacent territory to the east and south. The major force
within this area is the Archduchy of Austria, because the ruling Hapsburg*s have family
connections all over Europe (Spain, Netherlands, Hungary and Italy). The Peace settlement
enabled the French to take pieces this Holy Roman Empire* territory and Sweden and
Denmark rule over other pieces. Interestingly enough the next King of England will come out
of the Germanic kingdom of Hanover.*
In 1697, the elector of Saxony* becomes the King of Poland as Augustus II*, beginning a
cultural and artistic flowering in Saxony that will last until his son's death in 1763. By and
large most of this central European area is a political and cultural mess at this time.
This Central European area was the center of the German Reformation in thepreceding
century and now is dominated by the Jesuit* school theatre which doesn't encourage
professional theatre. Consequently, the popular theatre is to be found mainly at the fairs. The
typical program there includes two plays followed by a farce. In all these the clown is the
most prominent figure.
The German Narr* is equivalent to the English fool. He has appeared throughout the sixteenth
century as one who lives foolishly, only gradually becoming a comic character. Among other
attributes he can be a comic peasant where his assumed stupidity covers slyness. The clown
improvises at will, appearing in such guises as Hans Stockfisch* and Pickelhering*. These
characteristics are now being blended with the English clown and the Italian Commedia
del'Arte* to give rise to the Hanswurst* (see below.) Attempts have been made to adapt
French neoclassic plays to German but the audiences don't like them.
As the period progresses we will see the rise of new acting methods and a new managerial
system which will gradually raise theatrical performers from the misery of strolling players to
dignified positions in an assured profession supported by noble patronage.
By 1700 opera and Italinate scenery can be found in many of the German and Austrian courts.
Middle Class and Sentimental English Theatre
1702 William III* dies and parliament invites Anne* (James*'s other Protestant daughter)
1665-1714, who's been married to a Prince of Denmark but she doesn't share the throne with
him. She also has no children and tends to let other people guide her. The first of these
English guides are the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough.
The first daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, is issued in London.
In Denmark serfdom is abolished.
Under William and Mary* there had been a gradual decline in the court's interest in theatre.
Now Anne* has come to the throne, this decline reaches an all time low and theatre is forced
to look to the rising merchant class for new audiences. The opening curtain time moves
progressively later in the day to cater to those who work for a living. The kinds of plays
presented change to meet the interests of a very different audience.
1702 - We come to the beginning of the English pantomime* as John Weaver* organizes
dances into a connected story. This seems to be a descendant and adaptation of the old court
masques.* These are presented in the public theatres as afterpieces to regular plays. Much of
this kind of theatrical activity is designed to sidestep the licensing laws. But it also is devised
as a means of pleasing the new, lower class audiences. Although John Weaver* is beginning
this process, it will take a few years and the efforts of another man to get it up and running.
Peter the Great* (reigns 1682-1725) is trying to westernize Russia and this year he imports a
Polish theatre troupe, but it doesn't prosper.
1703 - Back across the Atlantic in the New World, the English actor Anthony Aston* arrives
in America. He plays just enough performances in Charleston and New York to pay for his
passage back to England. Culture is slowly trickling in.
1704 In America the first newspaper to survive, the weekly "Boston News-Letter," is issued.
1705 - In London this year, Betterton* moves his company, now under the management of
Congreve*, from Lincoln's Inn Fields* to a new theatre in the Haymarket named Queen's
Theatre*. The owner of Lincoln's Inn Fields* Theatre, Rich*, tears it down and puts up a new
building which won't open for a while.
A British vogue for Italian opera begins about now.
1706 - Farquhar* comes out with another play, The Recruiting Officer*. This is followed in
1707 with his The Beaux' Stratagem*. Both of these will become perennial favorites.
In Germany, school drama in the Jesuit* schools reaches its peak with some 769 schools,
universities and seminaries in France, Germany and Austria. The Jesuits are writing many
important works on theatre practice, but, because they are trying to get the monopoly on
education and are deep in political intrigues, they are beginning to decline and be suppressed.
1707 - In Germany the traditional clowns have coalesced into a national (even though there
isn't any "nation") clown called Hanswurst*. This character combines some of the attributes
of the Italian Commedia del'Arte*'s zanni* with the medieval fool and various English clowns
[from Shakespeare's colleague Will Kempe*, through the English comedians' Germanspeaking clowns, John Spencer*'s Hans Stockfisch* and Robert Reynold*'s Pickelhering*.]
Hanswurst* is a jolly, beer-drinking peasant with a Bavarian accent. His costume becomes a
green pointed hat, red jacket, long yellow pants and a white neck ruff. He is given his
distinctive traits by the German actor, Joseph Anton Stranitsky* (1676-1726) who works
mainly in Vienna. He helps establish a vigorous tradition of improvised comedy. The
popularity of this form sets back the development of written drama in German.
1707 - In England, the new Queen's Theatre* doesn't work well for plays and it is now
devoted entirely to the production of opera.
1707 Queen Anne*, of England, finally gets a workable Act of Union with Scotland (the old
Cromwellian one failed) and the island is now officially one country. Even more momentous
events are transpiring out in the English countryside. England is running short of wood, what
with all their ship building and turning wood into charcoal for making high quality metal. A
Quaker metal worker turns from using charcoal to using coke (coal partially burned to get the
impurities out). When, later this year, one of his workers, a John Thomas,* comes up with a
better coke, the metal-making business shifts into high gear. Another ironmonger, Thomas
Newcomen* develops a pumping engine to reduce flooding in the mines and there is now (in
coke) unlimited fuel and access (because the ore mines finally aren't flooded) to the ore
needed for technological advancement. The next problem delaying technological
advancement is transportation, because the roads are really lousy and it's slow and expensive
to move the coal and the ore to the ironmongering shops.
1708 - The first public German theatre opens in Vienna.
1709 - In England, the Dorset Garden Theatre*, designed by Christopher Wren,* is torn
down. By this time written works (like plays) can be copyrighted for 14 years and playwrights
can sell the copyright to theatre companies. The playwrights get no royalties beyond this
original payment. After the 14 years the copyright reverts to the author and it can be renewed
for another 14.
1709 George Berkeley* (that Irish philosopher) comes out with A Treatise Concerning the
Principles of Human Knowledge*. He is known for his system of subjective idealism
(Berkeleianism.)
What with all that European confusion, war and economic downturn earlier, a new wave of
immigrants starts. From the Palatinate in Germany, (that's sort of Bavaria), 14,000 emigrate to
America.
1710 - The European composer, George Frederic Handel* (1685-1759,) arrives in London.
Also, the first literary periodical, "the Examiner," appears.
In Vienna we find the first appearance of the comedy clown Hanswurst* in suburban theatres.
In Paris, a novelist and playwright, Alain Rene Lesage,* comes out with his outstanding
comedy, Turcaret*. He will soon get into a dispute with the Comedie Francaise* and quit
them to write for the theatres at the fairs. He seems to be one of the people responsible for
originating the French Comic Opera (Opera Comique).
Outstanding English and Irish Actors
Between 1710 and 1730 there are a number of prominent actors on the English stage. To be
prominent means that the public goes to see the actor rather than the play. Some of the best
known (today) are:
Colley Cibber* (1671-1757) who started acting in 1690 and worked for Rich playing leads
(especially fops) and writing popular plays. In 1710 he becomes one of the managers and
leading players at Drury Lane*. He will later (1740) publish his autobiography which is a
mine of information on the English theatre 1690-1735.
Robert Wilks* (c. 1665-1732, begins in Irish theatre) was an established actor in tragedy and
dashing young hero roles in comedy at Drury Lane* by 1698. He, too, becomes one of the
managers and leading players there.
Thomas Doggett* (1670-1721, begins in Irish theatre) playing low comedian roles. He comes
to London in 1691 and joins the management of Drury Lane*in 1710 but quits in 1713.
Barton Booth* (1681-1733, begins in Irish theatre) comes to London in 1700. He plays
secondary roles until, in 1713, by royal order, he is admitted to the management of Drury
Lane*. He becomes the finest tragic actor in London.
Anne Oldfield* (1683-1730) goes on the stage about 1700. She plays both comedy and
tragedy, but is best known for her success in high comedy. She will be the first actress to be
honored with burial in Westminster Abbey.
By 1733 these actors will all be dead or retired. The only well known actor to remain will be
James Quin* (1693-1766, begins in Irish theatre) who starts acting in 1712 at Smock Alley
Theatre* in Dublin. In two more years he will be playing small parts at Drury Lane*. He is
the last of the actors who achieve success with a declamatory style. Although he prefers doing
tragedy, audiences love his comic portrayals, especially when he plays Falstaff*.
1713 In England, this year marks the last execution for witchcraft.
1713 In Prussia, Frederick I dies and his son Frederick II*, later known as Frederick The
Great,starts ruling. He quits using foreign mercenaries as troops and develops native forces by
requiring all peasants in each canton or district to be liable for two years military service in
the rank and file. The officer class is the Prussian aristocracy ["Junkers"] where military
service is a traditional career. He will build a terrific, highly disciplined and efficient army.
They are the ones who begin marching in step, aiming for uniformity through extreme
discipline (sometimes driving soldiers to suicide.) They invent the iron ramrod and increase
the speed of musketry. [We will see these guys being hired to fight in the American
Revolution by the English.] Frederick* regulates civil life as well. He sets up a General
Directory to translate royal decisions into written instructions and supervise implementation
as well. Frederick* draws up a 297 page manual for all public employers.
1713 - The School of Dance is established at the Paris Opera.
1714 Queen Anne* of England dies this year without an heir. No problem, parliament's Act of
Settlement enables them to go shopping for a suitable ruler. This is where the German rulers
of England come from. James*' granddaughter Sophia married into the German house of
Hanover and had a son. This son, George*, has been king of Hanover since 1698 and is the
next in line for the English throne. This year he succeeds to the British throne as George* I
(rules 1714-1727.) He can't speak English and spends half of most years ruling his home turf
in Hanover. This does not serve England very well.
In Prussia witchcraft trials are abolished.
In England (or he may have been in Holland at the time) Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit* (16861736) comes up with his mercury thermometer with a temperature scale. This work provides
the Fahrenheit scale in use in America and England.
1714 - In America, the Governor of New York, Robert Hunter*, publishes a theatrical
political satire against his opponents called Androboros*. This is the earliest extant American
play.
1715 - In Paris vaudevilles and musical comedies appear. These are a way of avoiding
government restrictions on what company can perform where. They are also very appealing to
the public.
1715 In England there is a Jacobite* revolt trying to put the "Old Pretender" (James III*, son
of the last JamEs II* who got bounced for being Catholic - remember that they call him James
III because the French King said so)
In France, Louis XIV* dies and his grandson Louis XV*, age five, is crowned. He is under
the regency of the Duc d'Oreleans.
1716 -1717 theatrical season in London is the time when John Rich** (1692-1761), the son of
Christopher Rich*, (who manages both the Lincoln's Inn Fields* and Covent Garden*
theatres), establishes the pattern of English pantomime* with Harlequin Executed*. As is
evident by its title this theatrical form owes something to the Italian Commedia del'Arte* as
well as John Weaver's dances with a connected story. There is also a mix of serious scenes
featuring classical mythology (a sort of popular version of the earlier court masques*) with
hilarious scenes using the commedia characters. There is musical accompaniment for much of
the action and lots of grand spectacle. While Rich will write only about twenty of these, at
least nine will be revived at regular intervals. Rich**, acting under the name of Lun*,
becomes the most famous and accomplished English pantomimist of the century.
1716 - The first American theater is built by William Levington* of Williamsburg, Virginia*.
It is uncertain what kind of programs are produced here, but at least the Americans know they
need theatre buildings and they are starting to do something positive about it.
In France, the Italian Commedia del'Arte* is invited back to Paris and the Hotel de
Bourgogne*. They come back but they are now doing a number of different shows.
1717 In Prussia education is being promoted by Frederick* and school attendance is made
compulsory.
In music Bach* and Handel* are busy writing and performing their works.
1718 England is at war with Spain again. England also issues the first bank notes this year.
Voltaire* - 1718
This year in France one of the most influential theatrical figures of his time, Voltaire* (16941778), comes out with his first play, Oedipe*. He writes it while imprisoned in the Bastille for
writing a political lampoon. This tragedy is successful and, together with his other writings
(plays, theatre criticism, philosophy, history, etc.), brings him fame, social advancement and a
Court position. He will become a very wealthy man, passionately addicted to theatre, a keen
(but not professional) actor and builder of several private theatres where he can do private
theatricals. He becomes a great friend of a number of French actors of the time and will be
elected to the French Academy in 1746. He lives to a ripe old age and, at the age of 84, gets to
see his last tragedy, Irene* (1778) performed on the stage of the Comedie Francaise*. His
contemporaries regard his tragedies as comparable to Corneille and Racine but the days of
neoclassic tragedy are over. He is exiled from France over a political quarrel and spends
1726-29 in London where he learns English and goes to the playhouses. He reads the
Restoration playwrights and Shakespeare in the original and really learns from them. He is big
on using plays as a vehicle for expressing controversial and philosophical ideas. He will later
oppose the French genre, Comedie Larmoyante* (tearful comedy, see below 1733), calling it
a "tragedy for chambermaids." This doesn't prevent him from writing a bunch of drames*
himself. [A drame* is a type of French play. So named by Denis Diderot* to describe his own
plays, combining tragedy and comedy and dealing seriously with middle-class domestic
problems.] One of his big contributions to theatre is his role in bringing about the elimination
of spectators sitting on the stage. Among his best known tragedies are:
Zaire* (1732) [based on Shakespeare's Othello*]
Alzire* (1736)
Mahomet ou le Fanatism* (1741)
L'Orphelin de la Chine* (1755)
Some of his drames* are:
L'Enfant prodigue* (1736)
Nanine* (1749) [based on Richardson*'s novel - see below]
One of his philosophical novels, later adapted for the stage is:
Candide* (1759) [a satire on the philosophical optimism of Pope and Leibnitz*]
He visits a number of courts of enlightened rulers and corresponds with them throughout his
lifetime. He unceasingly attacks religious bigotry, tyrannical oppression and intolerance. In
his works we also see the first influences of the cultures of the Far East creeping into the
West.
1718 - In Germany, one of the most influential German theatre figures surfaces now. Carolina
(or Caroline) (1697-1760) marries Johann Neuber* this year, becoming known as Carolina
Neuber,* and they both join a German acting troupe. She is an excellent actress and will
become an exceptional theatre troupe manager, influencing several generations of innovative
actors and managers.
In France the theatrical companies that play the fairs are suppressed.
1719 France joins England in war on Spain. This has to do with all that business of founding
colonies and foreign trade.
The Jesuits are expelled from Russia.

1719 - The Royal Academy of Music* is founded as the home of opera in England. Opera is
never a financial success but continues to attract patronage from the aristocracy (who want to
keep up with the Italians and Austrians.)
1720's During this time in Germany a literary critic, Johann Christoph Gottsched * (1700-66),
becomes the intellectual theatrical leader of Germany. He wants to reform the German stage
along the lines of the French neoclassical theatre.
In England the Old Haymarket* Theatre opens.
English Prosperity Begins to Mushroom
1720 In England there is a startling, and, as it turns out, profitable turn in the weather. This
summer is the hottest on record and it is only the beginning. After two centuries the "mini ice
age" is over and the next three decades will bring really fine weather. Not only the weather
improves. The plague drops off to almost nothing with a change in the rat population (the kind
of rat that carries the plague is pushed out by another kind). Of course the weather change
isn't confined to England, but it is here that it will impact social conditions in a dramatic way.
The English laws of this time ensure that ownership of land be passed on through the eldest
son (who are prohibited from moving to the city to engage in commerce or trade.) With the
turn to warmer weather landowners are soon rolling in profits. One of the results of all this
abundance is earlier marriages and more children and the population begins to rise. More
people need more houses and more household goods so building and manufacturing take off.
Trade is booming with the import, export business taking off like a rocket.
London is England's chief port and home to the bulk of the trading interests. Africa, Russia,
Newfoundland, America, the East and West Indies, all contribute their cargo to the busy
English ships, protected from foreign competition by the great Navigation Acts of 1651 (they
make all colonies subordinate to parliament and require all trade with them to be in English
ships.) One of the most profitable areas of trade is in slaves from Africa needed to work the
English sugar plantations in the West Indies. They also contract to supply slaves for the entire
Spanish South American empire. Forts are built on the Gold Coast of Africa to protect the
African slavers.
The development of trade leads to the development of insurance to protect against loss and
new ways to loan out the excess money to make still more money. Problems with investment
speculation make news this year with the bursting of the "South Sea Bubble" speculation
craze.
Spain occupies Texas.
Also, Swiss immigrants introduce rifles into America.
1721 In this year it becomes possible to secure patents on inventions in England. This will
lead to all sorts of inventions.
This year also marks the establishment of regular postal service between London and New
England.
Peter the Great*

Peter* is the absolute ruler of a country where the sheer size and ethnically divided population
defy change. The country runs from the Arctic Circle in the north to the Caspian Sea in the
south, and six thousand miles from east to west. Wealth is determined exclusively by land
where the boyars* (illiterate nobility) hold hereditary landed estates and the lesser nobles have
life-time estates and where the peasant serfs* are bound by law to the same patch of land in
perpetuity. There is a small (22,000) military called the streltsy, established in the sixteenth
century as a personal guard for the czar and his family, who have developed into a hereditary
conservative class. The whole thing is governed by forty departments of state.
1721 - In Russia, Peter the Great* concludes a peace treaty with Sweden, giving Russia access
to the Baltic. He is now ready to make enlightened social changes in his country. The feudal
obligations of serf to landowner and landowner to czar are now changed so that the first
service owed is to the state. All physically able men of the landed class are required to serve
in the military or civil bureaucracy in order to retain their position and lands.
Peter* builds up the army, establishes a navy, gives priority to finding and mining iron,
copper, and coal, to fuel industry. He introduces promotion based on merit and establishes
new class structure. He also introduces three parallel categories of state servants: military,
civil and judicial. Within each of these there are fourteen classes with promotion based strictly
on merit. This means that a commoner reaching the top level can achieve the status of a
hereditary noble.
To deal with the appalling lack of education in Russia Peter* promotes education along
secular lines instead of leaving it in the hands of the church. He simplifies the Russian
alphabet, promotes the publication of textbooks, sets up colleges specializing in languages,
mining, engineering and military affairs. He sends a large number of students to study abroad.
Unfortunately, with such a huge and diverse population, he isn't able to reach very many
people.
Peter* abolishes the Patriarchate of Moscow as head of the Church and replaces it with a Holy
Governing Synod. This reduces the church to a government department of spiritual affairs. All
these are only the beginning and Peter* only starts the ball rolling. It will take another
enlightened ruler to raise the country to a level where theatre becomes a possibility.
1722 - The trend in English comedy toward middle class characters and sentimentality
reaches its height in The Conscious Lovers* by Sir Richard Steele * (1672-1729). Loosely
based on a play by Terence*, we find the penniless heroine braving endless trials to discover
in the end that she is the daughter of a rich merchant. Comedy is no longer funny or intended
to amuse. Instead it is intended to arouse noble sentiments in the hearts of the audience. The
characters seem to us unnaturally good and they manage to make their problems melt away,
but this is in keeping with the Age of Reason* view that humans are good by nature and can
be redeemed from any bad behavior if their "hearts" are touched. This particular trend in
comedy is about to cross over and continue to flourish in tragedy.
1723 - By this year the English pantomime* becomes the most popular form of theatrical
entertainment in England. Although they are only afterpieces to the main play, they are often
more popular than the play they accompany. When a new pantomime* is put on, the theatre
raises the ticket prices. The audience loves it partly because pantomime exploits spectacle.
This progress into scenic extravagance will begin to change the size of the stage so that more
and more scenery can be used.
In France, the Italian Commedia del'Arte* company called the Comdie-Italienne* since
1680, is made into a state theatre company called the comdiens ordinaires du roi**. This
same year the theatrical fair companiesare permitted to resume their productions. All this
means that there are now three legitimate companies and some semi-legitimate fair
companies.
1724 In England, gin drinking becomes popular.
1725-50 - In Russia, theatre is confined to the court.
1727 - This year Carolina Neuber* and Johann form their own theatre company, acquiring the
right to play the annual fair at Leipzig, the intellectual capital of Germany and the home of
Gottsched*. He meets them and they agree to work together to reform the German theatre.
Gottsched* provides translations and imitations of French neoclassic plays and Carolina
Neuber* raises the standard of performances by requiring careful rehearsals, innovations in
costuming and company discipline. Unfortunately the audiences don't want more refined
theatre. However, her work is very important because all the major actors and heads of
prominent German theatre companies will work with and learn their basic theatrical ideas
from Carolina Neuber.*
In England the first Goodman's Fields Theatre* opens. It won't last long and another of the
same name will open soon. [see below 1732]
1727 In England, George* I dies and his son George* II comes to the English and Hanover
throne. He will rule 1727-1760. Like his father, he doesn't speak English and puts Hanover's
interests before England's. He will become involved in wars on the continent to protect
Hanover. He will also have to deal with the biggest Jacobite* rebellion yet, in Scotland.
1727 England first begins the use of Hessian mercenaries. The superiority of training given
the German troops makes them sought after. These are the guys who will show up working
for England in the American Revolution.
In Brazil they are planting coffee for the first time.
1728 - The first English ballad opera*, The Beggar's Opera* by John Gay* (1685-1732)
opens. It is produced by Rich** and will be revived frequently down to today. The piece uses
operatic conventions but has spoken dialogue and lyrics set to popular tunes. The story of
low-life in London includes satirical comments on the political situation of the time. [Much
later Bertolt Brecht* will use this work as the basis for his Threepenny Opera*.]
1728 North American exploring is still going on. This year the Dutch explorer, Vitus Behring
discovers the Behring (or Bering) Strait between Alaska and Russia.
1729 In America, both North and South Carolina become colonies.
1730 - This is the year when the Irish actor, Charles Macklin* (c. 1700-97) comes back to
London. He had tried it in 1725 but returned to the provinces. He plays at Lincoln's Inn
Fields* in comedy and in 1732 he goes to work for Drury Lane*. He has a very naturalistic
style which doesn't impress the audiences at first, but it will, as time goes on. [see below
1741]
1730 - In Russia Empress Anna* (niece of Peter the Great and daughter of Ivan V, reigns
1730-40) continues her uncle's cultural interests and imports Commedia del'Arte*, opera and
a French dance master, Jean-Baptiste Landet*. This dance master will turn out to be the
founder of the Russian ballet. The Neuber* troupe also comes to Russia on Anna's* watch and
leaves shortly after her death.
1730s - In England the popularity of the works of Henry Fielding* (1707-54) reaches its
height in the 1730s and then begins to wane. He is known for comedies and satires attacking
political and literary follies. He will later turn to novel writing.
1731 - The London Merchant* by George Lillo* (1693-1739) comes out in England this year.
This play is a landmark in signaling a change of direction in playwrighting. The hero is drawn
from everyday life, an apprentice who is led astray by a hooker. The poor guy goes on to kill
his uncle and ends, repentant, but on the gallows. This play is revived well into the nineteenth
century.
1731 In America, Philadelphia to be precise, Benjamin Franklin* founds a subscription
library.
1732 This year James Oglethorpe* (1696-1785) gets an English charter to establish a colony
in Georgia. Next year. 1733, he founds Savannah, Georgia.
In Philadelphia Benjamin Franklin* starts bringing out "Poor Richard's Almanack." It will
continue publication through 1757.
1732 - Russia: They open the Cadet College for the education of sons of the nobility. What is
of interest to us is that there is a Society of Lovers of Russian Literature founded in
connection with the College. This will serve the Russians much like the French Academy
served the French. It will encourage playwrighting.
1732 - England: This year the old Goodman's Fields Theatre* closes and a new one with the
same name opens. Another, more famous, patent (that is it is legal) theatre opens. Covent
Garden* (the land had once been part of a convent garden) is designed by the architect,
Edward Shepherd,* to seat 1,897. It is under the management of Rich**.
Comedie Larmoyante*
1733 France: There is a new kind of play developing. It will come to be known as Comedie
Larmoyante*. These plays mingle pathos and comedy and are the beginning of the move
toward "domestic drama." The chief exponent of this style is La Chaussee* (Pierre Claude
Nivelle de - 1692-1754.) This year his first play, La Fausse Antipathie*, comes out. His plays
become very popular and are translated into English, Dutch and Italian. He will be made a
member of the French Academy in 1736. His major plays include:
Le Prejuge a la mode* (1735)
Melanide* (1741)
Pamela* (1743) (adapted from Richardson*'s novel - see above)
La Gouvernante* (1747)
1733 The British author, Alexander Pope,* comes out with his Essay on Man*.
Goldoni*
1734 - An Italian playwright, Carlo Goldoni* (1709-93) comes out with his first play,
Belisario*, in Verona. He is trying to reform the commedia dell'arte,* which is getting pretty
dull and monotonous. His notion of reform includes writing full scripts instead of relying on
improvisation. He meets with a lot of opposition and hostility from actors and the other Italian
playwright who is trying reform in a different way (we will get to him later, about 1761.)
Later Goldoni* will give up on Italy and move to Paris (see below 1761.) Since a number of
Goldoni*'s plays become classics and are produced with great regularity somewhere in the
world every year to this day, we will list the major ones here.
The Servant of Two Masters* (1743)
The Wily Widow* (1748)
The Good Wife* (1749)
The Liar* (1750)
The Coffee House* (1750)
The Mistress of the Inn* (1751) is regarded as his masterpiece.
The Boors* (1760)
The Impresario of Smyrna* (1760)
The Fan* (1763)
Squabbles in Chioggia* (1770)
The Kindly Curmudgeon* (1773)
[He dies leaving 150 plays and three volumes of memoirs. His work has a great affect on a
much later Italian playwright, Pirandello*.]
Back to England and America
1735 This year William Hogarth* (1697-1764) the English artist, engraver and painter, best
known as a supreme pictorial satirist, gets the government to pass legislation protecting
designers from piracy (Hogarth's Act*.) He is busy doing his engravings and paintings from
1718-64.
1735 - America: Amateurs give a season of three performances in Charleston, South Carolina,
and the next year they build a theater there. Strolling players are heard of throughout the
colonies, as well as local amateur troupes.
1737 Things are getting organized in America with all this immigration. This year William
Byrd founds Richmond, Virginia.
1737 - In England the authority of the Lord Chamberlain to intervene directly in regulating
theatres and in acting as censor (mainly in religious and political references) of the plays
permitted to be performed is legally spelled out in the Licensing Act of 1737. These powers
will not be modified until 1843. The validity of Charles II*'s patents has been questioned for
about ten years and during the 1730's there are four unlicensed theatres operating in London.
Prime Minister Walpole* is very annoyed by the theatrical attacks of the political satires put
on at the unlicensed theatres so he rushes a bill through parliament. It isn't very well thought
out. The law prohibits acting for "gain" in any play not licensed by the Lord Chamberlain and
it restricts authorized theatres to the City of Westminster. This puts Drury Lane* and Covent
Garden* in the legitimate area and the others outside. The law doesn't make any provisions
for theatre troupes outside London. It has a big effect on plays and on all theatre activity.
There will be a whole range of clever ways of getting around the law. One of the results of the
law will be to send English actors off to America to make a living. Another result is to reduce
the demand for new plays, and the opportunity to produce plays, for the rest of the century.
1739 - Carolina Neuber* breaks with Gottsched* and both their careers begin to decline.
However, her principles are picked up, perpetuated and extended by other troupes. Her
influence will eventually show up in the first national German theatre.
1740 In Prussia Frederick II ( later to be called the Great*) comes to the throne. He tries to
claim some territory and gets into the War of Austrian Succession* immediately. This war
comes out of the crisis created when the male Hapsburg* line dies out, and will last until
1748.
1740 - Germany: One of the actors in Neuber*'s troupe, Johann Friederich Schonemann*
(1704-82) leaves to form his own company. He will use her methods and repertory and
continue the reform of professional theatre. He takes with him the actress, Sophia Carlotta
Schroder* (1714-92) who debuts this year in a German version of Racine's* Mithridate* with
terrific success. The actor Konrad Ekhof* (1720-78) joins the troupe this year too. He will
stay for 27 years. Ekhof* will develop a more natural acting style and become the first
professional theatrical theorist on German dramatic art.
Neuber* takes her troupe to Russia where they replace the Commedia del'Arte * company.
England: Samuel Richardson* (1689-1761) comes out with his domestic novel Pamela: or
Virtue Rewarded* which will be adapted for the theatre and achieve phenomenal popularity.
1741 - In England this is the year of great acting. First, there is a really startling production of
Shakespeare's* The Merchant of Venice*. We need to take a moment here to take notice of
the English trend in doing Shakespeare's plays. The role of Shylock* in this play has been
being played by low comedians ever since the Restoration began. This year Charles Macklin*
(see above 1730) persuades the management of Drury Lane* to let him play the role
differently. He becomes famous overnight playing Shylock* as a dignified and tragic figure.
One of the startling things he does is get a costume for the merchant Jew that looks more like
both the character, and the period it takes place in. Of course all the other actors on the stage
are still wearing their contemporary clothes. But it is a step in the direction that will come
with the next period. It is becoming usual for actors to make a career of playing a few choice
roles over and over. Macklin* will play this one off and on until 1789.
The second instance of great acting this year involves David Garrick* (1717-79.) He has been
acting ever since he started at the age of eleven. This year he gets a chance to appear as
Richard III in Shakespeare's play at Goodman's Fields Theatre*. It's a terrific success and
soon he is drawing crowds to the theatre. However, what with those licensing laws, the theatre
soon closes and Garrick* gets hired on at Drury Lane* in 1742. He embarks on an exceptional
career as one of the greatest English actors ever. His successes will last until his retirement in
1776. He will join the management and introduce many reforms. [see below]
1741 - In Russia Empress Elizabeth* overthrows the government of Anna* and rules as regent
for Ivan VI.* She, too, continues cultural pursuits, especially importing Italians for opera and
French for plays. She rules from 1741-62 and real theatre progress will be made during her
reign.
1742 - In Germany the actor Konrad Ernst Ackermann* (1712-71) joins Schonemann's acting
troupe.
1744 - Lighting keeps improving to keep up with all that spectacle. By this time England is
using light ladders to hold lights on either side of the stage.
1745-51 In France the bickering between the fair companies and the legitimate Opera leads to
an injunction against all performances of Comic Opera. In order to fill the entertainment gap
the English pantomime is introduced and audiences love it, so it stays.
1745 The last Jacobite revolt occurs this year. This time the "Young Pretender" (Charles
Edward Stuart, grandson of James II*, also known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie"*) lands in
Scotland, raises the Stuart standard and leads an army south where they are defeated by
George* II in the famous battle at Culloden. This fracas will send another batch of Scots
emigrating to the American colonies (mostly into the Carolinas.)
1747 - This is the year Garrick* joins the management of Drury Lane* where he will later
become sole manager. He gradually changes just about everything related to production. One
thing that changes is the length of time for rehearsals. He sometimes takes as long as eight
weeks to get a show ready. His acting style is natural (in contrast to his competition,
especially Quin*). At this time in England there is a range of fine actors, many of whom are
acting with Garrick* in Shakespeare's* plays.
Peg Woffington* (c. 1714-60) plays spirited heroines in comedy and "breeches" parts (where
the girls get to wear men's clothes and show off their legs.)
Kitty Clive* (1711-85) is terrific in farce and spirited comedy.
Frances Abington* (1737-1815) is best known for her work in high comedy.
Susanna Cibber* (1714-66, daughter-in-law of Colley) specializes in tragic roles and learns to
tone down her declamatory style while working with Garrick*.
Hannah Pritchard* (1711-68) becomes known as the finest tragic actress of her time,
especially in the role of Lady Macbeth*.
Spranger Barry* (1719-77, begins in Irish theatre) is Garrick*'s biggest rival. He appears at
the rival theatre, Covent Garden* and with Garrick* at Drury Lane*.
1748 The French author and theorist, Montesquieu,* comes out with his Spirit of Laws*
which profoundly influences political thought in Europe and America.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing*
1748 - In Germany there is a new playwright, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing* (1729-81), who has
his first play The Young Scholar*, performed by Neuber*'s company. He will go on to write a
number of plays, become the first dramaturg* (see below, 1767), and translate the plays and
theatre writing of Diderot* into German. His major plays are:
1755 - Miss Sara Sampson*
1767 - Minna von Barnhelm*
1772 - Emilia Galotti*
1779 - Nathan the Wise*
1749 - In America, Walter Murray* and Thomas Kean* put together a theatrical company in
Philadelphia. They play the City of Brotherly Love for a year, then move to New York in
1750, and on to Virginia and Maryland.
In England Henry Fielding* comes out with his best remembered novel, Tom Jones*.
Scenery has become so important in English theatre that Rich** (the pantomime guy at
Covent Garden*) imports a designer from the continent.
The Beginnings Of Russian Theatre - 1750
French players have replaced Neuber*'s troupe in Russia. By now the Russian court and
nobility have been entertained regularly by Italians, French and Germans. They seem to be
ready to begin doing their own thing now. Russian playwrighting begins around this time with
Alexei Petrovich Sumarokov* (1718-77.) He writes in the style of the German and French
neoclassical plays but his subject matter is Russian history. Like Alexander Hardy* in France
and Christopher Marlowe* in England, he is refining and purifying the language. This time
it's Russian. He's been a student at that Cadet College [see above] since it wss founded in
1732, and his first play, Khorev* came out last year (in 1749.) He will be the driving force in
forming the first professional Russian theatre company. Now an amateur Russian group starts
up in Yaroslavl. A couple of sons of a merchant, Feodor Grigoryevich Volkov* and his
brother Grigori, get a bunch of their friends and relatives together, fix up a barn, and start
giving plays. One of their best actors is a guy named Ivan Afanasyevich Dmitrevsky* (1733-
1821.) This company builds a terrific reputation and will soon attract the attention of the
Empress.
1750 By the middle of this century England is beginning to solve its transportation crisis. It is
lots easier to move heavy, bulky material over water by barge, and the weather doesn't affect
travel on water like it does on dirt roads. However, the rivers don't go everywhere they are
needed, so England begins building canals to connect the waterways.
1750 - In England we begin to see significant changes in theatre scenery. There is now regular
use of an act drop to cover scenery changes up stage where the depth is growing from the
earlier 30 feet deep to 50 feet deep. A stock of scenery is accumulated and is reused regularly.
Settings are so nonspecific and anonymous that they can be used in very different plays.
Scenery has grown from the basic three, tragic, comic and pastoral, to a range of locations.
There are temples, tombs, city walls and gates, palace exteriors and interiors, streets,
chambers, prisons, gardens and rural scenes. These will also be used in America where stocks
of this sort will be found in regional theatres down into the 1940's.
1751 - In France, the Comic Opera reappears, but in a changed form. They now drop the
commedia dell'arte* characters and have new and original music.
German and Russian Theatre Continues
1750's in England there is a decline in burlesque and domestic tragedy and a brief resurgence
of comedy.
1752 - Germany: By this time the German actor, Ekhof*, has become the leading man in
Schonemann*'s company.
Russia: The Empress Elizabeth* summons the amateur Volkov* company to court, likes what
she sees, gives them permission to perform publicly and sends the Volkov* brothers,
Dmitrevsky*, and other of the company to school at the Cadet College for more actor training
and a good general education. In England, the ways of getting around the Licensing Act lead
to the passage of a new bill which requires all places of entertainment within a twenty mile
radius of London to get licenses from local magistrates. They still don't define what counts as
"entertainment." The laws still don't say anything about the rest of England and provincial
theatre continues to operate and develop a number of regular circuits.
American Theatre Begins
1752 - America: The restrictions on theatre activity in England stimulate the English actor,
Lewis Hallam*, along with his wife, three children, and a troupe of 12 other professional
actors to leave London and its restrictive laws to set up shop in the New World. They fix up
and open the first professional theater in America in Williamsburg, Virginia. From there they
travel to perform in New York, Charleston and Philadelphia.
Also in America, the Murray*-Kean* theatrical company seems to die out after this year.
1753 - Ekhof* opens an Academy of Acting in Germany but it doesn't pan out.
1754 The French philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau*, in A Dissertation on the Origin and
Foundation of the Inequality of Mankind,* is beginning to outline "nature's nobleman*." This
idea will become clearer as time goes on but basically, he puts forth the view that man is, by
nature, virtuous. Rousseau's* ideas about the naturally virtuous nature of man will provide the
basis for the next century's theatrical heroes, who will have to be "nature's noblemen."*
1755 - Germany: Lessing*' first major play, Miss Sara Sampson*, a domestic tragedy, is
produced this year by Ackermann*'s company. It's soon the most popular and widely imitated
play in Germany. Such plays attract a large middle class audience for the first time. Later, this
play will be seen as the earliest "realistic" effort.
Ackermann* goes to East Prussia to build a permanent theatre for a dramatic company.
However, he picks a bad time, a war is about to start.
Russia: The Empress has the Volkov* company appear at court again in Sumarokov*'s Sinav
and Truvor*. The Cadets at the College no longer appear in plays for the court, and Russia
now establishes its first professional acting company which also includes actresses. The
repertory of the company is full of adaptations and imitations of French and German models.
Later they will do comedies and light operas, too.
America: The Hallam* company sails to Jamaica for a year. The English are into big sugar
planntations all over the West Indies, (the islands of the Caribbean.) These plantations are
making money hand over fist and their main problem is what to do with all that money.
Obviously this is a lucrative place to do some theatre touring.
1756 - America: The American company leader Hallam* dies, but the troupe has already
joined the troupe of David Douglass* from Jamaica and in 1758 Mrs. Hallam* will become
Mrs. Douglass. She will continue as leading lady of the company with Lewis Hallam, Jr.* as
leading man.
Russia: The Empress establishes a State Theatre which will do Russian plays. Sumarokov* is
appointed head of the Russian theatre in St. Petersburg.
1756 This is the beginning of the Seven Year's War* (1756-1763) between Prussia and
Austria. England sides with Prussia (which is logical considering England's rulers are related
to the Prussian ones.) France, Saxony and Russia side with Austria. The war sets back
theatrical development in Central Europe, and the war will end with Prussia as the leader of
the German states. The war will also enable England to take colonial territory away from the
French (who are too preoccupied with events in Europe.)
In America, the Seven Year's War* is fought in the colonies and drags the native Indians into
battle on both sides.
In India the Mughal Empire has fallen apart and the English and French are forced to
intervene in the conflicts of rival princes to protect their flourishing commerce. The
superiority of British naval power enables England to oust the French from many of their
trading concessions. Next year Robert Clive* (now governor in India and known to history as
the founder of the British Empire of India) will win a significant victory over the French and
ensure British dominance in India. British naval forces take control of the Atlantic and
prevent the French from reinforcing their colonies in Canada. By the end of the war the
English take over French Canada and Spanish Florida.
1757 - France: The philosopher and man of letters, Diderot* (1713-84) comes out with the
first of his two plays, Les Fils Naturel*. These two are an important expression of the
"Enlightenment" and have considerable influence on the German playwright Lessing,* and
European drama in general. Diderot* is an exponent of bourgeois drama* (the drame*) which
is an offshoot of Comedie Larmoyante*. These mix virtue, sentiment and priggishness. The
middle-class audiences are crazy about this stuff. His plays are not much good but his
observations on theatre are very useful, especially his dialogue on acting, Paradoxe sur le
comedien* (Paradox of the Actor*.)
1757 In England the first major canal is built to move coal from the pits to the growing
population centers. Over the next fifty years canals will be built to connect all the major ports
with coal fields. Now that ironmasters no longer have to be near forests for their fuel they
begin to build their furnaces on the plains of Lancashire, near the ports.
1758 In France Rousseau* reflects on manners and morals on the stage in his An Epistle to
Mr. d'Alembert*.
1758 - In America the Douglass* theatre company sails from Jamaica to play the mainland
colonies until 1764.
1759 The Seven Year's War* is pretty savage in Canada where the English under General
James Wolfe attack the French under General Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham. The
upshot is that the English take Quebec.
1760 - In Germany, Lessing* believes that English drama, rather than the French neoclassical,
provides the best model for German drama and he breaks with Gottsched*.
During the 1760's in England every theatre starts having scene painters on their staff to handle
all that spectacle that pantomime uses.
1760 George* II has quarreled with his son, who married the daughter of the duke of SaxeCoburg-Gotha, and when George* II dies this year the throne goes to his grandson, George
III*. This one still doesn't speak English and will suffer from mental illness, ending up blind
and permanently deranged. George III* will rule from 1760-1820, although his son will have
to serve as regent from 1811 on.
1761 - This year Carlo Goldoni* leaves Venice and moves to Paris where he will write in
Italian and in French for the Comedie Italienne*. He will remain in Paris until his death.
The other Italian playwright, Carlo Gozzi* (1720-1806) who also tries to reform the
commedia dell'arte* but his changes involve changing the subject matter and keeping the
characters and improvisational methods. His subject matter is a mixture of fantasy and foolery
with stories that are full of fairytale characters, miraculous animals and magicians. This year
he comes out with The Love of Three Oranges* and The Raven*. Among his best, he will
also write:
King Stag* (1762)
Turandot* (1765), based on a Chinese fairytale, (regarded his best work).

The Beautiful Green Bird* (1765)
His plays influence a number of playwrights in Germany and France (especially Alfred de
Musset*.) These plays appeal to musicians particularly and they will be widely used as
librettos for opera. [see the 1920's]
1761-62 - America: The Douglass*-Hallam* company gives a presentation of "moral
dialogues" in Rhode Island, the first professional performances given in New England.
Russia: Sumarokov* is too liberal and outspoken for the current court political climate. His
plays are banned and he is thrown out as head of the Russian Theatre. In 1762 Volkov*'s
company is attached to the political party supporting Catherine* (see below), which turns out
to be a smart move. They get put in charge of the celebrations in honor of her coronation.
Unfortunately Feodor Volkov* catches cold while directing a street masquerade and dies.
The Russian theatre will continue to develop mainly in the "serf" theatres on the estates of the
nobility. Under Catherine*, theatre will spread all over Russia under state control. In 1763
Dmitrevsky* (see above) takes over Volkov* 's company and is appointed Inspector of State
Theatres. He takes a leading part in running them in, between trips to Paris to improve his
acting skills. He spends the rest of his life as the leading actor and highest theatrical
administrator.
1762 - In England Garrick* finally gets to forbid audience seating on the stage. Now he can
really get on with improving productions.
In Paris the Comedie Italienne* is given a monopoly on producing the Comic Opera. Between
these productions and the plays of Goldoni* they are so successful that they quit putting on
any French plays. The theatrical fair companies are forced to return to using songs set to
popular tunes for their shows. These are now called comedies-en-vaudevilles* [the term
vaudeville* seems to mean either songs of the valley or songs of the city streets, in any case it
refers to satirical lyrics sung to popular tunes and vaudeville* comes to mean a play that is
light or satirical and is interspersed with songs.]
The fair companies also relocate to the Boulevard du Temple (a popular recreation area) as
well as playing at the fairs. This enables the companies to play year round. There are at least
four important troupes that relocate on the Boulevard and this location will give rise to the
term for theatres that cater to popular audiences, the boulevard theatres*.
1762 Rousseau* comes out with his most influential work, The Social Contract* in which he
lays some of the ground work for the political revolutions that will soon follow.
Catherine* the Great
In 1762 in Russia, Peter III* (and his wife Catherine) comes to the throne. Very soon after this
event, Catherine* (1729-1796) heads a palace coup and deposes Peter in her favor. She
becomes Empress Catherine* II (known as Catherine* the Great) and will rule Russia 176296. She continues the enlightenment reforms of Peter* the Great. She calls a commission to
discuss the needed reforms and makes them read her sixty page Instruction in which she
advocates humane laws, religious toleration and reform. Boards of public welfare are set up to
supervise schools, hospitals, poorhouses and correctional institutions. She will do much more
later
1763 The Seven Years War comes to an end and Prussia is the winner. In America, the French
give up all their territory east of the Mississippi to Prussia's ally, the English.
1764 In India, Robert Clive* is again governor and commander in chief of Bengal, where he
obtains sovereignty over the whole province for the East Indian Company, founding the
empire of British India. The profits from this segment of British territories soar.
1764 - (or possibly 1767) In Germany the actor Ekhof* leaves Schonemann*'s troupe to join
Ackermann*'s. This troupe had been playing in Prussia but the war forced it to move to
Switzerland and this year it arrives in Hamburg*. Sophia Schroder* has married Ackermann,
bringing her son, Friedrich Schroder* (1744-1816) with her. Friedrich will learn everything
Ekhof* knows about acting.
In America the Douglass* theatre company sails off to Jamaica again for a two year stint.
1765 - The great English actor, Garrick*, has been off to the continent checking out the
theatres and comes back this year with a bunch of new ideas for scenery and staging. He
reforms stage lighting and insists that scenery be more particularized. That means that new
settings have to be made for each production. He tries to improve costuming in the same
direction, but it doesn't get much farther than an idea.
1766 - The German, Johann Friedrich Lowen* *(1729-71), Schonemann*'s son-in-law,
publishes the first history of German theatre and proposes a permanent, subsidized, non-profit
theatre to be run by a salaried manager. He further insists on high salaries, an academy to train
actors and a pension system (like France) to attract the best performers. He advocates prizes
to encourage dramatists.
1766 - In America, the Douglass* company returns from their sojourn in Jamaica and finds
the colonies hungry for theatre. They begin to build permanent playhouses. The first, which
they build this year, is the Southwark Theatre* in Philadelphia.
1767 - In the American colonies we find playwrighting getting a start with a play in the
classical mold, Thomas Godfrey's* The Prince of Parthia*. It is the first American play to be
produced by a professional company. Douglass* and his company put it on. They also build
another theatre, this time in New York. It is called the John Street Theatre*. They will
continue to build others in major towns between New York and Charleston.
In Germany, Lessing* comes out with his admirable prose comedy, Minna von Barnhelm*,
Germany's first national comedy.
1767 - The German, Lowen,* (see above, 1766) persuades twelve businessmen to back his
idea of a theatre. Ackermann*'s company is to perform and Lessing* is hired to be resident
critic, advisor and edit a theatrical journal to promote the enterprise. The Hamburg National
Theatre* opens in April. It's a great idea but it will last only two years. Despite its failure, the
theatre is a break-through in noncommercial, national theatre. The job Lessing* holds comes
to be known as dramaturg* (resident literary and artistic advisor, play reader, repertory
advisor and in-house critic) which European theatres regard as an essential position now.
In France there is a new and important playwright, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais*
(1732-99). This year he writes a play, Eugenie*, in Diderot* 's style of domestic drama. He'll
write another in this style before he has his first success. We will pick up it, and the rest of his
career, in the next chapter where it properly belongs.
1767-87 In Germany there is a group of young dramatists who are in revolt against the formal,
social drama available, the drama of the past. They want to create new forms based on the
doctrine of the rights of man and Rousseau*'s plea for a return to nature. We will hear a great
deal about these guys later since they launch the next period of Romanticism*.
1768 Captain James Cook* (1728-1779) charts the coasts of New Zealand, and in 1771,
Australia and New Guinea.
1769 - The Hamburg National Theatre* closes this year, leaving an ideal to aim for and
Lessing*'s publication Hamburg Dramaturgy* (his theatrical journal promoting the
enterprise,) as a major critical work.
1770 This is an historic year for modern development because James Watt* comes up with
the steam engine. It will revolutionize transportation and industry.
Fortunately the money is available for industrial progress because English banks have
proliferated and by now there are at least fifty, enabling profits from one part of the country to
be available in other parts.
1773 The other necessary ingredient for industrial development comes into being this year,
the London Stock Exchange will enable investment and production to flourish.
Afterword - 1770
In France the neoclassic era is over. Domestic drama and comedy are becoming the most
popular form of theatre throughout Europe and in America. This trend will continue, fostering
what comes to be called "melodrama" and providing the seeds for the later Realistic form.
The pattern of development in playwrighting, in countries like Russia, seems to be set, with
beginnings in national historical neoclassic works, followed by expansion into currently
popular genres.
This rather loose and sprawling period is eclipsed around 1775 by a rising tide of national
revolutions and the developing movement of Romanticism*. The way in which western
Europeans, and consequently, Americans, shape their ideas of society is changing profoundly.
Absolute monarchies are dropping like flies. The ground work for the industrial revolution is
being laid.
Scientific discoveries and theories are changing how we perceive the world. The fruits of
trade are raising a wealthy middle class which wants to participate in the cultural life of their
world. All this and more will be reflected in the theatre of the next period.
next Chapter 12
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CHAPTER TWELVE
Romanticism*
1770-1830
Introduction In theatre the period between 1770 and 1830 covers the Romantic* movement which rises in
Germany and spreads to France and England. As with other artistic movements it is in part a
reaction against the past and in part a way of expressing the central preoccupations of the
times. The artistic past of French Neoclassicism* has grown stale in endless repetition and
imitation across the earthier and more robust culture of Germanic cities and towns. The
Enlightenment*, with its preoccupation with reason, has provided little in the way of exciting
theatre fare.
The new obsession sweeping the western world is passionate nationalism and a desire to
throw off the old authoritarian way of doing things. The ideas of the Age of Reason*
engender a belief in the rights and powers of the people (the "Rights of Man") to have a social
contract with their rulers so that the individual (the noble savage) can flourish. The noble
savage, being good and noble by nature, relies on instinct rather than on learned societal
behavior to rise to fulfill his destiny. Society is looking for heroes to lead it into the future.*
"Folk genius"
The notion of "folk genius", a sort of inborn, native, intuitive ability to do magnificent things,
becomes a guiding light for the rising Romantic movement. Some of the thinkers of the
preceding Age of Reason* are particularly significant in laying the basis for this aspect of the
new movement.
An Italian scholar, Giambattista Vico* (1688-1744), put forth a new way of looking at
history. In previous views, history is a record of human errors, or, some Christian view of the
struggle for salvation. Vico* separates the world of nature, (which can only be understood by
God,) from the world of nations (which is made by men). The world of nations he regards as a
product of human activity in history. This view exalts history as the record of human
knowledge and excellence. The important aspect of this view is that man is capable, through
his powers of imagination, of re-evoking the past and coming up with "poetic" constructs
which become the basis of human institutions. The more logical structures of reason follow
along behind these leaps of imagination.
Another thinker, this time a Frenchman, has an even stronger role in laying the groundwork
for this important corner stone of Romanticism. Rousseau* [remember him from the previous
chapter?] insists that scientific and artistic progress have corrupted rather than improved
mankind. He idealizes the primitive past and claims that feeling and intuition are far more
important than calculating reason. He popularizes the notion that the present is an outgrowth
of the past. Rousseau* lets people know that they can take control of their destinies by
looking back to the simple "natural" origins of humans and comparing that with the present.
All this ferment about instinct (and emotion, feelings, etc.) and its relation to reason
stimulates a younger man, Immanuel Kant* (1724-1804) to devote his career in philosophy to
logical critique. He goes on at great length to investigate both reason and intuition, especially
aesthetic intuition (the experience of the sublime.) In Kant*'s view art is indispensable in the
quest for reality. [Two of Kant*'s major works are Critique of Pure Reason* (1781) and The
Critique of Judgement* (1790).]
This business about the quest for reality is central to theatre because theatre is always
primarily concerned with searching for reality. Actually, Classic theatre has been a question
of coming to terms with reality, whether in terms of the tragic world in which reality destroys
the hero, or the comic in which the hero can bargain with reality to gain advantage. But now
the very nature of reality has come into question. What goes on on the stage is always some
attempt to portray a vision of reality for the audience of that time and place. This is why
theatre constantly changes both the subject matter and how it is shown. Reflecting the reality
of kings to kings is hardly reality for the merchant class. The preoccupation with court
manners and morals is not reality for artisans and traders. So it is that this new period of
Romanticism is concerned, in a very central way, with re-examining the nature of reality, a
quest for reality, and the idea of the quest.
"Quest"*
In all forms of romance (the basis of Romanticism), humans go on a quest. The object of this
quest is always important to the human spirit although what it is in a concrete sense can vary
enormously (it can even be unknown.) The quest may not be to find something, it may be to
create it. It is a quest rather than a simple search because it is always a mystery rather than a
clear hunt for a specific thing in a world of a fixed order. Because of the nature of a quest, the
hunt, or search, is often more important than what is being hunted. It is the journey, not the
destination, that matters. The experience is essentially historical, an experience of change and
a passing of everything through time.
The Romantic Hero
The Romantic movement is one of extreme individuation where emphasis must fall on the
Romantic hero. [We use the term hero as a sex neutral one whether it refers to Joan of Arc or
Napoleon. The meaning derives from the heroic nature of the individual and of their actions.]
An example of the essence of the Romantic hero can be found at the beginning of Rousseau*'s
Confessions* (written 1770-1778 and published 1781 and 1788.) He writes "I am not made
like anyone I have ever met; I even venture to believe that I am not made like anyone now
alive..." No one can be more individual than that.
Turning to the Age of Reason helps in understanding the Romantic hero for we find Voltaire*
saying "I don't like heroes; they make too much noise." This dislike is well founded, for the
hero threatens to burst the confines of orderly society and will, in this period, be widely found
in political revolutions. Napoleon* will stand as the epitome of this romantic characteristic.
Not only is the romantic hero unique, he (or she) is not cast in the aristocratic mold of past
heroes. Social hierarchies are about to crumble and careers will be built on talent rather than
inherited social class. But the romantic hero must have other characteristics as well (other
than talent.) Being great and a genius seems to carry with it a sense of isolation and suffering.
The romantic hero is an egotist and, in the end, he (or she) will have to go down before the
collective attack of society and his fellow men. [Consider Faust, Joan of Arc and Napoleon
for examples.] The time is one in which traditional beliefs about the world of nature and the
world of society (or nations) is being questioned.
The man (or woman) of feeling The groundwork (referred to above) which emphasizes intuition and emotion needs to be
more particularized to give us the characteristics of the Romantic hero. Rousseau*'s
characters contribute two traits that seem to be central. All Romantic heroes have an acute
emotional sensibility which makes them significantly different from their fellows. This leads
the characters to live in a world of emotions where sadness is more evident than happiness.
The Romantic hero is often melancholy, prone to feelings of despair, and, frankly, downright
miserable. The "tender passion", love, dominates all other feelings and Romanticism is
essentially very romantic. The Romantic notion of love moves from being earthy and lusty to
something spiritual, more like the chilvalric notions of the middle ages. Love becomes
something like Dante*'s notion of a route by which the time-bound individual might learn a
vision of ultimate truth. This means that love is a state of being, or condition, to be eagerly
sought because it affirms a universe better than the one we inhabit. These heroes also have an
awareness of not belonging to the existing social order.
The Romantic Past and Exotic Lands One of the hallmarks of the Romantic movement is its preoccupation with the past. [see
Rousseau* above] The Middle Ages had been virtually ignored by the preceding Age of
Reason as had the pagan and early Christian North (Vikings and such like.) The "new"
science of archaeology has been busy this century digging up the past (the Herculaneum in
1738 and Pompeii ten years later.) In the 1750's Johann Joachim Winckelmann* (1717-1768)
had explored these excavations [in 1764 he published the first systematic descriptions of
Greek and Roman art in History of the Art of Antiquity*.] In 1820 Claudius Rich*, an English
consul in Bagdad, will go looking for the biblical city of Nineveh* and write extensively on
his Mesopotanian studies. Still later (beginning in 1876,) Heinrich and Sophia Schielmann*
(1822-90) will unearth Mycenae and Troy. Physical remains of ancient societies are popping
up all over the place, giving rise to passionate interest in the past, especially by the Germans
who have felt excluded from the European heritage. While the Greek and Roman past has
been the object of investigation since the beginning of the Renaissance, the Hellenistic period
between the two is only now being distinguished. In looking into the Hellenistic, they find
that the irrational and emotional Dionysiac* has greater appeal than the rational Appolonian*.
The "Gothic" While earlier generations had called the period between the fall of Rome and the rise of the
Middle Ages the Dark Ages, this "dark" period is now emerging as a fascinating pagan world.
These other, less known, cultural traditions are slowly being revealed (the Celtic,
Scandinavian and Teutonic North.) There is an enthusiastic rise in popularity of Scandinavian
mythology, the Norse Eddas*, and tales and songs in which ancient Celts, Saxons, Teutons,
Vikings and Northmen fight and struggle just as actively and as poetically as the Greeks and
Trojans. The "citizen of the world" of the Enlightenment is changing into a nationalistic
patriot whose roots lie not in ancient Greece and Rome (except, of course, for the Greeks and
Italians) but in their own historical heroes. We now have what will come to be called the
"Gothic revival."
In addition to a rediscovery of European past there is a rising interest in strange and exotic
lands and cultures that are only, just now, becoming accessible through the increase in world
trade. The Orient is the first to provide literary works through the active trade with India. The
Schlegel** brothers (August* 1767-1845 and Friedrich* 1772-1829) will found a literary
journal (the Athenaeum*) which will become the organ of German literary romantic writers.
August* edits translations of oriental literature (including the great Indian epics, the
Bhagavad-Gita* (1823) and the Ramayana* (1829).)
Romantic Nature Nature, as in the world apart from human activity and achievement, becomes the focus of the
"cult of nature." The landscape, countryside, sea and mountains provide an appropriate
domain for the tortured and isolated Romantic hero. If, as Rousseau* claims, mankind was
better in a state of nature, then it seems logical for the romantic to move out from the salon
and the boudoir into the natural world. The philosophic attitude of many Romantics is
Pantheism * in which an immanent God is manifested through all forms of nature and, like
Pope's "poor Indian," one can see God in the clouds.
The Romantic Voyage The poetic notion of the "voyage" is as old as human literature, but the Romantics put a new
twist on it. The Romantic Voyage is the journey undertaken by the Romantic hero. It may be a
real, physical journey or an internal and spiritual one. Whatever the specifics of the voyage it
is always from the known (which is seen as conventional and dull) into the unknown (which
is strange, exotic and mysterious.) The notion of the voyage always holds the promise of
peace after struggle. It does not, however, ever provide the fulfillment of that promise. The
final goal has to be death. [No wonder they are melancholy and depressed about it.]
The Romantic Revolutions and Artists Up to this point in the history of Western society there has been no necessary connection
between intellectuals and artists and their political stands. Now, however, social upheavals
present a problem (we still haven't solved this one) that seems to point to a necessary relation
between art and society. Theatre, of course, has always seen the connection but now others
are taking up this view. Historically, Plato banned many poets from his Republic on the
grounds that they were a menace to civil order, but, Plato has Socrates (in the Phaedrus*)
describe this divine madness of the poet as the artist who is driven by godly inspiration to
achieve beauties that can't be obtained by other mortals. Whatever the roots may be of the
attitudes of the Romantic artist, it is clear that he is convinced that the artist is a guide to
society. However, society usually scorns its saviours. So, in this period, for the first time, the
artist claims his/her connection to society and becomes linked to revolution and social change.
Europe and America in Social Ferment
By 1770 a number of social and political revolutions are brewing. The Age of Enlightenment
has raised expectations among the intellectuals in Europe. In France, the long reign of Louis
XV* (1715-74) is drawing to an end. France has experienced a good deal of economic
progress and expansion but no political change. The effective machine of French government
is rapidly becoming obsolete.
In America the Seven Year's War* (1754-1761) was played out over control of the Ohio
Valley and culminated in the capture in 1758 of the French forts Dusquesne (later Fort Pitt
and then Pittsburgh) and Ticonderoga. The French threat disappears from America and the
British colonies no longer need British protection. Britain runs a colonial empire that circles
the globe but makes the mistake of keeping their English colonies out of representation in
Parliament. The Stamp Act (1765) taxes the American colonies and, in response, nine
colonies draw up a declaration of rights and liberties. Although many duties (taxes) are
repealed in 1770 the one on tea remains in force (remember the Boston Tea Party?). The final
straw will come with the Coercive Acts of 1774 (against Massachusetts) and closing the port
of Boston. The American colonies will call a Continental Congress* to meet in Philadelphia
in 1774. The following year the American Revolution* will break out.
Most of Europe will regard the American effort as a minor ripple on world affairs. France,
however, always open for a chance to beat up on the English, will sign the Franco-American
alliance, and French ships and troops will help finish the revolution. Holland and Spain will
jump on the American side of the Revolution* bandwagon and England will find herself
besieged at Gibraltar. (They will also have to defend British interests in India and Africa at
the same time.) The idea, and process, of Revolution will spread as the years pass.
In England at this time the social ferment is economic. What with the new use of coal and
coke to fuel things there has been a rise in small manufacturing which draws people in to the
cities. The need for good transportation is being solved by those canals (see the previous
chapter) which supplement the river system and provide the ideal route to move large, heavy
loads (like coal.) The first major canal was dug in 1757. At the end of the Seven Year's War*
(1763) there is a drop in interest on loans and more capital can be borrowed to build canals.
By 1775 a network of canals will connect all the major English ports with all the large
coalfields.
The advances in technology, finance and industry are driven by the industrious "Dissenters"
or Nonconformists. These are members of the non-Catholic, non-Anglican Christian sects
who, as a result of Cromwell and the civil war, are forbidden to hold positions in local
government, civil service or at the universities. They are, however, permitted to work in trade
and finance. The Dissenters, particularly the Quakers and Unitarians, are strong on education
and set up a number of Dissenting Academies with modern, practical curriculum. This
education prepares the students for success in industry. By 1770 there are all the ingredients
in England for an industrial quantum leap forward.
The final ingredient is cotton, which is flowing in from the colonial empire in India, the
Caribbean and America. A new weaving technique has been developed in the 1760's and the
spinning jenny in 1767. In 1769 a machine called the water-frame is produced and for the first
time all textile workers are put to work under one roof. The only thing delaying a real factory
system is the problem of power and that will come along soon. Textile work is beginning to
take off.
One other factor is evident in this period. There is enormous population growth. The
agricultural advances (noted in the previous chapter) since the 1720's encourage population
growth, as do the extensive colonization of resource rich areas (the Americas, Australia, etc.).
The world population will almost double in the nineteenth century.
Germany and the Beginnings of Romanticism
Romanticism begins with the work of a bunch of young German intellectuals, (strongly
influenced by their admiration for Shakespeare*), who will later be known as the Sturm und
Drang* (Storm and Stress) movement, named for a play of that title [written in 1776 by
Friedrich M. Klinger*.] The group includes Goethe* [see below] who will write the first
German play in the Shakespearian style (Goetz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand*)
which will be produced in Berlin in 1773. The Sturm und Drang* movement covers roughly
1767-1787, but reaches its height in the 1800s. One of the most relevant features of the period
is that the hold of French dramatic models is broken and English models replace them,
especially Shakespeare*.
The unities* (remember? back in the French neoclassic period) are ignored, emotionalism
runs rampant and the plots are anything but simple. There is no clear philosophical direction
and the plays are very diverse. Some are episodic, like Goetz von Berlichingen* with its fiftyfour scenes, others more ordered. The primary object seems to be breaking all previous rules.
Most of the group's plays are not even produced. The ones that are, are mostly not well
received. But, production failure doesn't seem to matter and the plays are read and discussed
all over Germany. All this lays a foundation for the really good stuff that will come out after
1785. Much of this development will grow out of the establishment of state theatres (this will
begin in 1776.)
In the 1770s in Germany the growing number of permanent theatre buildings means that the
set designs will become more important. More appropriate and more detailed sets which can
be changed easily are now necessary. For the first time we can see attempts to have authentic
sets and costumes. Interest in historical accuracy shows up in Goetz von Berlichingen* and
the plays it inspired. The 1774 production of this play is the first time anybody uses sets and
costumes to show a particular historical time and place. In the 1770s all those domestic plays
are written with specific costume descriptions which encourages costume design for particular
characters. Historical costuming becomes the usual thing.
1770 - The first important Danish playwright, Johannes Ewald* (1743-1781) comes out with
the first significant Danish tragedy, Rolf Krage*. He calls attention to the rich heritage of the
folklore and legend of North Europe and lays the foundation there for the coming romantic
movement.
1770 James Cook*, English explorer, discovers Botany Bay Australia and the Scots explorer,
James Bruce is zipping around the interior of Africa discovering the source of the Blue Nile.
In America they are busy with the "Boston Massacre" which is basically a brawl between
drunken civilians and British troops.
In England Gainsborough* (1727-1788) paints the "The Blue Boy." Sir Joshua Reynolds* is
also busy painting. The master cabinetmaker, Thomas Chippendale* (1719-79) has produced
his major work.
1771 In Sweden Gustav III* starts his reign (r. 1771-1792.) He will give a boost to theatre,
found an academy, write plays himself and generally encourage art. In 1773 he will start a
national theatre.
1772 - In Germany, Lessing* comes out with his tragedy, Emilia Galotti*.
1772 The American colonies are getting serious about their problems with England. The
Boston Assembly demands rights for the colonies and threatens secession. Samuel Adams*
(1722-1803) forms Committees of Correspondence in Massachusetts for action against Great
Britain.
This year brings the first German performance of Handel*'s (1685-1759) "Messiah." Gluck*
(1714-87,) Haydn* (1732-1809) and Mozart* (1756-91) are busy turning out great music.
1773 Britain is busy expanding in India and this year they pass a Regulating Act* to put
Indian acquisitions under parliamentary control.
1773 - In Germany this year the Sturm und Drang* playwright, Johann Wolfgang Goethe*
(1749-1832,) comes out with his first success, Goetz von Berlichingen*, the idealized story of
a historical figure, a robber baron. Totally disregarding the Unities*, it kicks off the Romantic
movement and is the spearhead of the "Storm and Stress*" guys, providing a model for the
movement. With the success of his short novel next year, Goethe* becomes the leader of the
young Romantics. He will go on to a lengthy and extremely influential and productive career
spanning the entire period. We will look at his achievements as they occur, but a brief outline
of his major work might be helpful here.
Goethe*
In the early 1770's he makes a start on his lifetime preoccupation which shows
up in a work called Ur-Faust. In 1775 he goes to Weimar* on invitation from
the reigning Duke. His job includes organizing Ducal entertainments. He
writes plays, directs and acts. He will stay here for the rest of his life.
Stella* 1776
Clavigo* 1779
Iphigenie auf Tauris* 1779
Egmont* 1787
In 1786 he takes a much needed vacation in Italy and gives up Romanticism in
favor of classicism. As a result he rewrites Iphigenie auf Tauris* (in 1802 there
is a production of his new version) and writes Torquato Tasso* in 1807. His
biggest hit, of course, is Faust*. Part I comes out in 1808 and Part II isn't
completed until 1832 and not produced until 1853, after his death. [Very little
of his theatrical output has been seen on English speaking stages, although
several of his works have been very popular in Russia.]
Goldsmith*
1773 - In England, Oliver Goldsmith* (1730-74) comes out with She Stoops to Conquer*, an
immediate success which will continue to please and amuse to the present day. He is mainly a
poet and novelist, and his novel, The Vicar of Wakefield* (1766), is equally well known.
1774 In France Louis XV* dies. He is succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI*. In America
Anne Lee* (1736-1784) moves from Manchester England to New York to begin a spiritual
revival that becomes the Shakers (they are the "Shaking Quakers.)
In England the last development needed for the steam engine becomes available when the
dissenter John Wilkinson's boring mill becomes able to manufacture close tolerance cylinders.
On the political front in America, the Virginia House of Burgesses calls a Continental
Congress in Philadelphia.
1774- This is the time during which machinery is introduced into textile (1780) factories,
especially in England. This is the real beginning of the industrial revolution which will change
the make-up of society by shifting production from families, and their homes or farms, to
factories in the cities.
American Revolutionary Times Begin
1775 This is the year the American Revolution* breaks out (which, of course, puts a crimp in
American theatrical activities.) England, being busy with international mercantile affairs,
hires 29,000 German mercenaries to cope with the Americans.
In England there is a technological breakthrough when the high-grade steel (produced by
Benjamin Huntsman's invention of crucible steel in the 1750's) enables the great ironmaster
James Wilkinson* to cut iron accurately to within a few millimeters. This kind of precision
will make possible the next important step in producing power, the steam engine.
1775 - With the outbreak of the Revolution, the Continental Congress calls for a cessation of
theatrical entertainments. During the Revolution there are no professional performances, but
both British and American soldiers entertain themselves with plays.
Douglass* moves his troupe to Jamaica (remember him? He runs The American Company* of
English actors.) Amateur playwrights flourish, penning mostly propaganda, generally against
the British, but Robert Munford* writes a play called The Patriots*, which satirizes the "super
patriots" who see every opponent as an enemy agent.
1775 - In France Beaumarchais* (1732-99) finally gets a production of his comedy, The
Barber of Seville*, performed at the Comedie Francaise*. It was originally supposed to be a
play with music for the Italian company, but their leading player thought it made fun of him
(he had been a barber) so that didn't work. After Beaumarchais* reworks the piece it is finally
seen on the stage. It is a terrific success.
1775 - In England an Irish-born dramatist, Richard Brinsley Sheridan* (1751-1816) gets his
first play, The Rivals*, put on at Covent Garden*. It is an immediate success and will
continue to be popular. He is a professional theatre man and will buy a share in Garrick*'s
Drury Lane* where the rest of his theatrical output will be produced. He writes farces, comic
operas and, in 1777 (see below), the masterpiece of the English Comedy of Manners*, The
School For Scandal*, as well as one of the best burlesques, The Critic: or, a Tragedy
Rehears'd* (1779.)
1775 - In Germany the first state theatre is founded at Gotha* from the leftover members of
the earlier Hamburg National Theatre* company.
1776 In England the new process for producing iron (Darby's reverberatory furnace) is so
successful that this year the first cast-iron bridge is built at Coalbrookdale, over the River
Severn.
1776 - In Germany Emperor Joseph II* establishes the Imperial and National theatre in
Vienna, better known as the Burgtheater*. They use the organization and procedures of the
Comedie Francaise* as a pattern for running it. Generous state support means that they can
hire the best people for this company. This is the year that Friedrich M. Klinger* comes out
with his play, Sturm und Drang*
.In Russia, Catherine II* starts a pension system for actors in the state theatres.
The French painter, Jean Honore Fragonard* (1732-1806) is busy turning out his work.
1777 - In England this is the year Richard Brinsley Sheridan* comes out with The School For
Scandal*. It has all of the wit of the Restoration comedies but leaves out the coldly calculated
hanky-panky and pride in fooling around. The role of Lady Teazle* becomes one of the plums
for every English actress to aspire to. True love and respect triumph and wickedness is
punished.
1777 - The German actor and dramatist, August Wilhelm Iffland* (1759-1814) joins the
actor-manager Ekhof in Gotha. He goes with the company the following year to Hamburg and
the National Theatre. There his early plays are terrifically successful but not memorable. He is
more influential as an actor and training actors in serious acting style.
1778 The Franco-American alliance is signed this year (to be followed next year by another
alliance between America and Spain and some help from Holland.) This brings French troops
and ships into the American Revolution and puts England in the position of being threatened
in her dominance of the seas. The French are exposed to the liberating ideas of Locke*'s
philosophy of natural right being put into practice. They will go home and try something
similar in France.
1779 - In Germany, the third state theatre, the Court and National theatre, is started up in
Mannheim (The ruler becomes the Elector of Bavaria and moves his court to Munich.
Establishing the theatre is sort of a consolation prize to the city to compensate for losing the
court there.) This theatre will become one of Germany's best. After this (throughout the
1780s,) state theatres pop up all over Germany. Some of the most prominent ones will be in
Cologne, Mainz, Salzburg, Weimar and Passau.
In Russia Catherine The Great* establishes an acting school.
1781 The American Revolution* is over this year with the British forces surrendering at
Yorktown. It will take two years to hammer out a treaty.
1779 - The German playwright, Lessing,* comes out with his blank verse effort, Nathan the
Wise*.
1780s In Italy Luigi Galvani* is exploring electricity and animals.
1782 - With the American war over, professional performances resume. John Henry* (who
had been with The American Company* earlier) does a single act in Philadelphia, but it will
take a few years to overcome the antitheatre resolution of The Continental Congress.
1782 In music, Haydn* and Mozart* are busy composing. In France the Montgolfier*
brothers construct an air balloon. In England, the woman novelist, Fanny Burney* (17521840,) comes out with her second novel, Cecilia*.
1780's - In England new actors are coming along. These actors will affect theatrical
production in the United States as well as at home. In order to rise economically, the normal
way of doing things is to have the whole family involved in the same trade or profession. It is
less usual to find this in the theatre since the profession is notoriously risky financially.
One of the prominent theatrical families to descend on London at this time are the Kembles.
1782 marks the London debut (as "Hamlet" at Drury Lane*) of John Philip Kemble* (17571823). He will have a long and impressive career acting tragic roles as well as managing both
Drury Lane* and Covent Garden*. His parents (Roger and Sarah) are players and manage a
company in the provinces. He has three brothers and four sisters who are also on the stage.
His sister, Sarah Siddons* (1755-1831, she had married actor William Siddons while playing
with her parents' company) makes her successful London appearance this year, too. The other
theatrical Kemble siblings are brothers Charles*, Stephen, and Henry and sisters, Frances,
Anne, and Elizabeth*. The only one of these who makes a significant mark is Elizabeth* (or
Eliza) Whitlock* (1761-1836,) who emigrates with her husband to America. John Philip
Kemble* and Sarah Siddons* lead in establishing a restrained, classical mode of acting that,
through Elizabeth* Whitlock* will affect American theater for years.
In France, the pantomimes have become more melodramatic and include dialogue. They have
mood music under scenes of innocence persecuted and rescued from villainy.
Schiller*
1782 - This year one of the most prominent playwrights of German Romanticism has his first
success. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller* (1759-1805) has his first play, The
Robbers*, produced at Mannheim*. It's an immediate success and will be constantly revived.
He will go on to be appointed official dramatist of this theatre in 1783. He writes several more
of these melodramatic plays [Fiesko* 1783, Intrigue and Love* 1784] before turning to
historical tragedy with Don Carlos* (1789). He, like Goethe*, reexamines his values and aims
in the 1780's. His historical studies lead to two books [The Revolt of the Netherlands* and A
History of the Thirty Years War*] which gain him a reputation as a historian. This leads to a
job as history professor at the University of Jena*, which is only five miles from Goethe* at
Weimar. They establish a strong friendship [about 1794] and begin to influence each other
[their letters to each other are really informative about their artistic goals.] In 1799 Schiller*
moves to Weimar and works regularly in the theatre. His best works are done after he moves
to Weimar*. Together they create what comes to be known as "Weimar classicism."
These works of Schiller*'s are:

Wallenstein* (1799),
Maria Stuart* (Mary Stuart, 1800),
Die Jungfrau von Oreleans* (The Maid of Orleans, 1801),
Die Braut von Messina* (The Bride of Messina, 1803),
Wilhelm Tell* (1804).
All Schiller*'s works are translated into English. The Robbers* is the most
influential at this time and reinforces the Sturm und Drang* movement.
1782 James Watt* (inventor of the steam engine in 1763-4) [actually it is his assistant,
William Murdock,* who develops it] comes up with a new improvement, the rotative engine.
This is monumentally significant. The original steam engine has been used just to work
pumps, mainly in the mines. Now he has a machine that can turn a drive shaft and drive
machinery. This will really change things, first of all in the textile business. Textile machinery
has been run by water power, which requires that the factories be built on the edge of swiftflowing waters that can turn the water wheel which powers everything. With the steam
engine, there is more power and the factories can be built anywhere.
In England the first change brought about by the rotative steam engine shows up immediately.
It is a system of producing large quantities of high quality wrought iron at such a low price
that machines can now be made out of metal instead of wood.
There is a concurrent development in textiles with widespread use of the new invention, the
Cromptom 'mule' (1779.) This machine improves the speed and variety of spinning yarns.
More machines are rapidly developed to handle other aspects of the textile process. The
cotton industry is launching the Industrial Revolution*.
1783 - In France Beaumarchais* comes out with The Marriage of Figaro*.
1783 The Treaty of Versailles* sets up the borders of the new United States* as the Great
Lakes in the north and the Mississippi in the west.
England continues to expand in India and this year passes the Younger Pitt*'s India Act* to
further control through parliament the new Indian territories. These are now under Richard
Wellesley*, (soon to be the first Marquis Wellesley, see 1799.) He begins Indian
consolidation and the beginnings of an imperial realm.
This year Beetoven*'s (1770-1827) first works are printed.
In France, they are trying out a paddle-wheel steamboat on the Saone River.
Theatre Progresses
1784 - Lewis Hallam, Jr.* brings a small company to the new American republic. In 1785,
John Henry* (see above,) who has gone back to Jamacia for more actors from The American
Company*, brings his new troupe to Philadelphia. The two (Hallam and Henry) join forces
and call their united troupe "The Old American Company*" (since it is made up of a number
of actors from the earlier The American Company*.) This troupe will become the foundation
of New York theater where they settle in the John Street Theatre*.
In Germany, Iffland* comes out with his Crimes of Ambition* which finally brings him fame
as a playwright. He is now the most influential member of the Mannheim company.
1784 In England Pitt's* India Act puts the East India Company under the control of the
government.
The first hot air balloon ascent takes place in England.
A Scots millwright (Andrew Meikle) invents the threshing machine.
Frederick VI* completes the abolishment of serfdom in Denmark.
1785 By this time, statistical analysis is growing in popularity. This year the French
philosopher, Marquis de Condorcet*, writes an essay, The application of mathematics to the
theory of decision-making.* Statistics, probability and census-taking, all seem useful tools for
rulers to plan and organize the regulation of their societies. The process of reducing people to
nembers begins here.
1786 The earliest attempts at using gas for illuminating are taking place in England and
Germany.
1786 - In Germany another state theatre is started in Berlin (Prussia.) This one will be very
important. This year Frederick William II* replaces Frederick The Great* as the Prussian
ruler. He wants to be a cultural leader (as well as the dominant political force,) so he
establishes a subsidized state theatre troupe. The idea is that theatre is a cultural institution
that can be used to unify Germany. Even towns that have troupes of their own are busy
building theatre buildings. In the 1790s there will be more than seventy companies to move
into these buildings.
1787 - Royall Tyler* (1757-1826) presents the first American comedy to be professionally
produced, The Contrast*.
1787 - In Germany there is a new playwright who will become the most popular dramatist in
the world. August Friedrich von Kotzebue* (1761-1819) gets his first success this year with
Misanthropy and Repentance*. For the next ninety years his plays will make up one-quarter
of the Burgtheater*'s performances (Vienna.) We will look at him more closely a little later.
1788 There are bread riots in France. Trouble is brewing.
1788 - In England, the use of spectacle is increasing and this year Robert Barker* (17391806) shows off his invention of the panorama* at Edinburgh. His associate Robert Fulton*
(1765-1815) [the guy who will invent the steamboat] will get a French patent for it and the
circular spectacle will be displayed in London (1799) and by James Thayer (who buys the
patent) in America and Paris (1800.)
1789 The mutineers of the H.M.S. "Bounty" settle on Pitcairn Islands in the East Pacific. In
England the first steam-driven cotton factory opens in Manchester.
French Revolution
1789 In France, Louis XVI* continues the absolute rule he inherited but he is not a competent
ruler and there is a terrific financial crisis. The middle class takes advantage of this and
establishes a parliamentary type government based on wealth. The peasants (who are still
living in a feudal society) really object to this as even greater exploitation of them. This
makes for widespread rioting and the end of feudal society in France. The riots cause food
shortages in the city of Paris. This food shortage arouses the Parisian working class to storm
the strategic fortress of the Bastille* preventing Louis XVI* from recovering his despotic
power to intimidate the city. The French Revolution* is now up and running. The middle class
manages to hang on to control of the political end of things for the next two years. They
reorganize the civil, religious and military institutions and try to work in cooperation with
some of the liberal aristocracy and the king but eventually the counter-revolutionary forces
inside and outside France change the revolution. [see below 1792.] With the outbreak of civil
disorder, theatre, of course, doesn't flourish.
What does change in France, as a result of the revolution, is medicine. This is because the
physicians, as elsewhere, are a small, powerful elite serving the aristocracy. Surgeons, on the
other hand, are mere craftsmen. With the revolution, the doctors, as members of the upper
class, have to be re-educated and the surgeons elevated. Only surgeons have studied anatomy,
and dealt with battlefield wounds, and, being kept out of city practice by the physicians, they
went to work in the villages and countryside. When the revolution breaks out there are more
surgeons than physicians, which is good, since what is needed now is battlefield care. A new
category, called 'health officer' grows up in which both physicians and surgeons are put and
have to get used to working together.
In America, exploration goes on. Alexander MacKenzie crosses Canada to the Pacific. There
is still a lot of unknown territory out there.
In the United States they elect the first president, George Washington* (1732-1799.)
In England the poet, artist and mystic, William Blake* (1757-1827,) comes out with Songs of
Innocence*.
1789 - A comedy, The Father*, introduces William Dunlap* as a new American writer. He
continues to write for the Old American Company* for many years, including the tragedy
Andre*, based on an incident in the Revolutionary War.
1790 In Russia, Catherine The Great* opens a second state theatre in St. Petersburg.
From Vienna, a man named Johann Peter Frank* is becoming the first great practical
exponent of the science of public health. He is a hospital administrator, clinician and teacher
who travels extensively throughout Europe working for the rulers of small states and teaching
as he goes. He will produce seven volumes under the title A System of Medical Police*
teaching administrators how to deal with public health. He deals with everything from care in
childbirth, through food, housing, sewage, garbage and water supply. Medicine and health are
about to begin to move out of the dark ages.
The Scots poet, Robert Burns* (1759-1796,) puts out his poems, Tam o' Shanter* and Auld
Lang Syne*.
The English romantic writer, Ann (nee Ward) Radcliffe*, originator of the school of romance
characterized by vivid scenic descriptions, comes out with her A Sicilian Romance*.
In England, the first steam-powered rolling mill (rolls wrought iron) is built and the building
of the Firth-Clyde and Oxford-Birmingham canals are started.
Lavoisier* (1743-1794) comes out with his "Tables of Thirty-one Chemical Elements."
Mozart* writes Cosi fan tutte* in Vienna.
In the United States, Washington, D.C. is founded.
1790 - In England and, consequently, in America, most of the major theater companies have
abandoned the shareholder arrangement and actors now work for straight salaries under a
manager.
In Russia, many nobles select serfs* and train them as performers. The next twenty years will
see the operation of the most important serf theatres. Some nobles [such as Prince Yusopov
who owns some 21,000 serfs] set up separate ballet, opera and dramatic companies, complete
with training schools. In Moscow there will be fifteen serf theatres by 1797.
1791 - Thomas Wignell,* a member of the The Old American Company*, leaves them and
with Alexander Reinagle*, a musician, starts building the Chestnut Street Theatre* in
Philadelphia.
1791 - In Weimar* (Thuringia, Germany) the duke appoints Goethe* director of the Weimar
Court Theatre. Now, Goethe* has been producing plays for the court with courtiers as
amateur actors from 1775 to 1783. By this time the court (and Goethe*) are tired of amateurs
and in 1784 a new Court theatre opened with a resident professional company. This year
(1791) Goethe* finally gets to exercise his artistic ideas with professionals and with good
financial backing. He will put his own plays and those of Schiller* into a repertory that will
grow to include all the best plays. Guest appearances by leading German actors will
strengthen the company. Soon, (1799) he will bring in Schiller* to help. Stimulated by a visit
from Iffland*'s acting company (1796) and encouraged by Schiller*, Goethe* will begin to
take an active interest in the theatre company's work. This will lead him to write at some
length on acting and other aspects of producing. He insists on strict discipline and requires the
actors to follow his direction. He achieves the most integrated ensemble of the time and will
be remembered as one of the earliest "directors." After his death the members of his company
will spread his methods around Germany.
1791 Over in central Europe, Catherine The Great* has been extending Russia's boundaries.
This year a Polish rebellion is crushed by Russian troops and we have one of those partitions
of Poland. It is divided up between Russia and Prussia and by 1794 Poland ceases to exist.
In the United States the first ten amendments to the Constitution* (the Bill of Rights*) are
ratified.
In England, Boswell* (1740-1795) comes out with his Life of Samuel Johnson*, which will
be regarded as a masterpiece of biography.
1791 - In France, theatre monopolies are abolished by the revolutionary government and a lot
of new companies are started up in Paris. In the next ten years there will be more than fifty.
Most provide popular entertainment. The Comedie Francaise* splits into two troupes. One
branch, with the famous actor Talma* (Francois-Joseph, 1763-1826), is pro-revolution and
next year will take the name Theatre de la Republique*. Talma* is the leading actor in France,
known for his careful study of roles and attention to historical costume. He is usually known
as the greatest French actor ever.
1792 In France the French Revolution* is in trouble. Louis XVI*'s Austrian relations are
mobilizing armies. So is Prussia. Between internal counter-revolutionary forces and this threat
of armed invasion, the revolutionaries declare war on Austria and Prussia. Soon France is at
war with the greater part of Europe. The French Revolution* is a decisive turning point in
European history so we will spend a little more time following the flow of events.
Early on there are a series of defeats which causes panic. Reaction to this panic leads to the
execution of the king and a lot of slaughter of political suspects. The nation is unified against
foreign invasion by the leadership of the Girondins*, Danton* (Georges Jacques Danton,
1759-1794) and Carnot* (Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot, known as "le grand Carnot",*
1753-1823). But the common people rally to a more extreme group, the Jacobins*
(Maximelien Franois Marie Isadore de Robespierre,* 1758-1794, and others.). This group
puts the government on a more democratic basis and takes a terrorist approach against
anybody who disagrees with them. The guillotine is busy chopping off heads. There is a total
military call-up which produces a really dandy and enthusiastic army, well organized by
Carnot.* The tide turns and the invaders are not only expelled but are attacked on their home
turf.
France takes over Belgium and other territories to establish "natural frontiers."
In the army there is a revolutionary doctrine of advancement based on merit, that is, army
careers are now open to talent instead of money or aristocratic standing. This makes it
possible for France to extend its power into Holland, Switzerland and Italy. It also brings onto
the scene a brilliant military leader named Napoleon Bonaparte* (1769-1821.)
1792 - The Old American Company* has been struggling on, but does not have the intelligent
management that will characterize the Chestnut Street Theatre* in Philadelphia. John Henry*
is replaced as manager (of the John Street Theatre*) by John Hodgkinson*.
This year yellow fever reaches America (from Africa by way of the West Indies.) Theatres are
closed and the disease rages over two thirds of the United States.
1792 Health and medicine take a step forward this year when a French doctor, Phillippe
Pinel*, is put in charge of the biggest asylum in Europe for the aged and infirm. It has 8000
patients. and Pinel* advocates strict and repeated observation, recording of findings and
comparison of data over time. This, he claims, will provide some useful information for
treatment. It certainly does.
Illuminating gas is used for the first time in England and the Libel Act is passed.
In the United States dollar coinage is minted. Exploration is still going on. This year
American merchants, sailing out of Boston, are exploring the Pacific northwest coast of the
American continent and find the mouth of the Columbia River (up there in what is now
Washington state.) This may not seem like much but it makes a lot of people think there may
be a "northwest passage" by water from the east to the west. This will prime the pump for
northwest exploration (despite the fact that this territory belongs to somebody else.)
1793 - The prohibition against acting in Boston is rescinded and the Federal Street Theatre* is
built. Frequented with management problems, it will never have a big impact on American
theater, but Boston becomes a major theatrical center.
1793 In the United States they re-elect Washington* president. The portrait painter, Gilbert
Stuart* (1755-1828) opens his studio in New York. He is, of course, remembered for his
portraits of Washington* among many others.
In France, the Marquis de Sade* (1740-1814) is writing a novel, La Philosophie dans le
boudoir*.
This is the year the violin virtuoso, Paganini* (1782-1840,) makes his debut at Genoa (at age
11.) He will later tour Europe and compose for the violin.
1794 - This year two new theatres open. The first, the Federal Street Theatre,* opens in
Boston with an independent company. The second, and more important, opens in
Philadelphia. Wignell* has gone to England for actors and brings back some of the best talent
yet seen in the New World to play here. Among them is the great actress' Sarah Siddons*'
sister, Elizabeth Whitlock*. Wignell* opens Chestnut Street Theatre* with this impressive
group. The theatre building is modeled on the Theatre Royal* at Bath, England, and seats
about 1200 with a stage 71 feet deep by 36 feet wide. The audience seating includes three
tiers of galleries. Philadelphia will be a theatrical center for the new country for many years.
The Chestnut Street Theatre* company is the only real challenger to the New York based The
Old American Company*, which will remain the leading company in America well into the
19th century.
1794 In France they are beginning to be revolted by the excesses of the revolutionary terror.
With the Revolution of the 9th of Thermidor (July 27, they renamed all the months) and the
resultant execution of Robespierre,* the Reign of Terror* is over and the French return to a
more middle-class government. The practice of medicine, however, is improving by leaps
and bounds, what with having so many medical cases to deal with. This year all hospitals
become state property and facilities continue to expand. At the medical college (Ecole de
Sante) surgeons are in charge and there is an extensive curriculum including external, internal
and advanced clinical. The ideas of the Enlightenment are adapted to medicine and careful
attention is now being given to looking, examining and dealing with immediate causes.
Clinical observation becomes central to medical practice.
Slavery is abolished in French colonies.
In the United States they establish the U.S. Navy.

In the arts, Goya* (1746-1828) is painting in Spain. Later he will move to France (1814.)
1795 This is the time when the first attempt to quantify electricity and magnetism are taking
place.
The first horse-drawn railway shows up in England. This notion of rails to run transport on
will be the second big step in the industrial revolution.
1795 - Charleston, South Carolina also becomes a major center for American theater. John
Joseph Sollee* is the manager of the City Theatre* (or French Theatre*) where many plays
are performed in French. Charleston has a large French population due to the refugees from
the French Revolution and slave uprisings in Santo Domingo.
In England, the romantic poets keep trying to write plays. Most of them are pretty bad plays.
This year William Wordsworth* (1770-1850) comes out with The Borders*.
1796 - Thomas Abthorpe Cooper* (1776-1849) one of England's most promising young
actors, comes to the Chestnut Street Theatre* in America because he is unable to find a
suitable engagement at home. Within a few years he is considered America's leading actor,
popularizing the Kemble style of acting in the New World. Hodgkinson* and Hallam*, both
give up their managerial positions at the John Street Theatre* and William Dunlap* takes
over management. But Hallam* and Hodgkinson* remain as actors in the company, even
though they still remain rivals.
1796 The French Armies are on the march, especially in Italy where Napoleon Bonaparte* is
sent by the Directory*.
In the United States George Washington* refuses a third term as President and John Adams*
narrowly beats out Thomas Jefferson* as the next president. Jefferson* serves as Vicepresident.
In Russia Catherine The Great* dies and her son Paul I* succeeds.
Melodrama,* Popular Theatre, and Napoleon
MELODRAMA*
In 1797 in France, the man who coins the word "Melodrama"* produces his first successful
play. Rene-Charles Pixerecourt* (1773-1844) will write (or collaborate on) nearly 100 plays.
For thirty years he will provide the second rate theatre with their main fare. His work typifies
the mixture of ferocity and idealism of the French Revolution which permeates the plays
produced for illiterate audiences. He is influenced by German writers and his own work will
strongly influence the rise of French Romanticism. He will also strongly influence the English
where most of his plays appear soon after they are done in France.
By this time the works of Kotzebue* are being translated, adapted and performed in England,
France and the United States. Kotzebue* is busy writing over 200 melodramas. The
popularity of his works keeps the plays of better writers from becoming highly visible.
Although Kotzebue* and Pixerecourt* are the most prominent authors of melodrama, English
and American playwrights will follow.
Melodrama* comes from several sources: incidental music used in spoken drama in Germany;
the French melodrama* which was pantomime with music; the Gothic tales of mystery,
horror, vice, virtue triumphant; the early works of Goethe* and Schiller*. Gradually the music
becomes less important and the settings less Gothic, but the music will continue to be
included throughout this period.
Typically melodramas* of this period combine sensational subjects, striking spectacles and
humanitarian sentiments. The plots require a virtuous hero/heroine be relentlessly pursued by
a dastardly villain. The pursuit includes every imaginable threat to life and limb, reputation
and happiness. All actions are shown on the stage (preferably catastrophic like earthquakes,
battles and floods.) Lots of local color is included, such as festivals, dances, strange and
interesting working or living conditions. A sort of formula develops to shape these plots
elements. The play begins with a short expository scene to explain who's who and what's
what. The scenes are episodic with lots of plot devices like disguises, mistaken identities,
abductions and fortunate coincidences. There are three acts and each ends with a terrific
climax. The ending is always a happy one with strict poetic justice in which virtue is rewarded
and villainy defeated and punished. There is comic relief provided by servants, confidants or
companions. Music is always woven in through songs, dances and underscoring of emotional
scenes.
Melodramas* contain all kinds of popular entertainment plus a simple, strong story with strict
moral codes. Everybody can understand them and so they are enormously popular and will
dominate the nineteenth-century stage. For the first time since the Renaissance, theatre is
serving a large popular audience.
In England, the craze for "Gothic" melodrama* is served by the dramatization of two novels
by Matthew Gregory Lewis* (1775-1818), Ambrosio, or the Monk* (1795) and The Castle
Spectre* (1797) as well as translations of thirty-two plays of Kotzebue* and numerous
adaptations of Pixerecourt*'s plays.
1798 - The first use of Romanticism* as a descriptive term for the new movement shows up in
the literary journal, Das Athenaeum* [see above.] The writers are attempting to clarify and
develop concepts from Sturm und Drang*, the works of Goethe* and Schiller*, the writings
of Kant* and other philosophers. They are trying to formulate the theoretical bases of
"romantic" art.
In the United States, the John Street Theatre,* which houses The Old American Company,*
has become inadequate and it is replaced. The first really important theatre, the Park Theatre*,
opens in New York. It is built and managed by Hallam*, Dunlap* and Hodgkinson* who sell
off the old John Street Theatre*. The Park Theatre* will have its ups and downs, but over the
rest of this century every player of any importance in America will appear here.
1798 The French are still on the march. This time Napoleon Bonaparte* is off to conquer
Egypt (he has in mind taking it as a first step toward India.) He will be here another year until
he begins to hear about the political mess at home.
1798 - One of the first plays produced in the new theater is Andre* with Hodgkinson* in the
lead, and Cooper* as supporting actor. Dunlap* manages the theater until bankruptcy is
declared in 1805. In 1807 Cooper* will take over management and the theater will begin to
prosper. In 1808, a new partner, Stephen Price*, will enter the picture and Cooper* will start
touring companies which include major stars.
1799 In France the corruption of the Directory* (the current government, we get the
Directoire* style from this period) and a relaxation in the nation as a result of winning leads to
economic crisis, political discontent and military defeats. At this point Napoleon Bonaparte*
seizes power. He not only re-establishes the revolutionary institutions in France (with some of
his own modifications) but exports them all over as he conquers various pieces of Europe.
He will rule as First Consul 1799-1804. He does a terrific job of getting the country out of the
grip of chaos and introduces a whole range of measures that form the basis for most
contemporary French institutions. Administrative law reorganizes the revolutionary
"departments" (counties, states, provinces, whatever) which make up France and assigns
"prefects" to be sure that centralized authority reaches all parts of the country. He fixes up the
quarrel that the revolution caused between the French government and the Church
(Concordant of 1801) and gets state control of all the temporal aspects of the French Church
while the Pope gets to look after the spiritual.
One of the by-products of Napoleon*'s excursion into Egypt is the discovery this year of the
Rosetta Stone* which enable scholars eventually to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics.
1799 - When Napoleon* comes to power he brings some order out of the theatrical chaos,
reuniting the fragments of the Comedie Francaise*.
1799 Off in India, Richard Wellesley* is honored for his progress in bringing English control
to those parts by being created Marquis Wellesley (Irish peerage.) He appoints his brother,
Arthur*, (later to be created the Duke of Wellington* and known as "the Iron Duke") as
supreme military and political commander of the Deccan (the southern half of India.) Since
the Napoleonic Wars* are about to keep Britain busy in Europe, Wellesley* has practically a
free hand in India. He will be busy in India for some years.
In England, the landscape artist, Turner* (1775-1851,) exhibits the first picture of a naval
engagement, "Battle of the Nile."
A perfectly preserved mammoth is found in Siberia and Russia grants a monopoly on Alaska
trade to the Russia-America Company.
1800 - Pixerecourt* produces Coelina, ou l'Enfant du Mystere*, the most successful of his
melodramas.* It is translated into English (by Thomas Holcraft) and appears in 1802 as the
first melodrama* on the English stage. This play earns Pixerecourt* the nickname "the
Corneille* of the boulevards." In England there is a new actor, George Frederick Cooke*
(1756-1812) who favors realistic acting. He is a little past his prime by this year, his London
debut, but after ten years in London with great success he will tour the United States. This
will set an important precedent.
1800 In France the business of medical knowledge is forging ahead. Xavier Bichat* invents
pathological anatomy and comes out with his systematic view of disease as a localized
phenomenon in his Treatise on Membranes. This view means that you treat the disease and
not the patient. Hospital doctors are now dominant and are the elite of the profession.
Teaching medicine becomes much easier since most of the patients are poor and destitute and
are neither able or willing to object to being used as objects of study. If a patient's relatives
couldn't come up with the large sum charged for burial, the deceased goes to the dissecting
room for pathological study. Students flock to France from all over to take advantage of the
availability of hands-on pathological anatomy. [In England the only way to get a body for
study is to buy it from grave robbers. No doubt all this will inform the author of
"Frankenstein." (see below 1818)]
Down in Italy Count Alessandro Volta* (1745-1827) invents the voltanic 'pile,' a sort of
primitive battery.
In the United States what had been known as the 'back country' is now referred to as the
'frontier.' The political scene sees the Federalist John Adams* beaten by the Republican
candidate, Thomas Jefferson*.
In England the social reformer Robert Owen* takes over New Lanark mills and begins social
reforms. Later he will try to export his cooperative communities" to the United States (New
Harmony, Indiana, 1825-28) with little success.
1801 Thomas Jefferson* (1743-1826) becomes the third president of the United States (18011809) in a close battle that is decided in the House of Representatives. [There is a tie in the
popular vote with Aaron Burr.]
A Frenchman makes use of the voltanic pile to come up with electroplating.
The Union Jack becomes the official flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1802 - In Germany this year, another German romantic playwright, Lugwig Tieck* (17731853) comes out with his best known tragedy, Kaiser Octavianus*. The prologue of this play
is regarded by his contemporaries as characteristic of the romantics. He also writes a lot of
"fantastic comedies." In England the public is crazy about melodrama* and finally there is an
English play labeled as a melodrama.* Actually it is an adaptation of Pixerecourt*'s Coelina*
by Thomas Holcroft* (1745-1809) which he calls A Tale of Mystery*. Melodramas* are
rapidly becoming the mainstay of the minor theatres in London.
1802 Napoleon* creates the Order of the Legion of Honor* to reward both soldiers and
civilians for outstanding service to the state. It carries a pension.
In England the romantic writer, Sir Walter Scott* (1771-1832,) comes out with his first
important work, three volumes of Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border*.
The English pass the "Health and Morals of Apprentices" Act to protect labor in factories.
1803 France needs money and the United States buys a big hunk of the American continent
France claims to own. The Louisiana Purchase* covers all that territory from the Gulf of
Mexico (New Orleans) north and west of the Mississippi River to some vague spot in the
Rocky mountains.
Meanwhile, England is busy coping with events in Europe and in India.

In France Robert Fulton* (1765-1815,) an American inventor, is hired by his government to
come up with an affordable, workable steamboat. He is trying it out. Meanwhile he has
invented a submarine but nobody is interested.
1804 In France Napoleon* is proclaimed Emperor by the Senate and Tribunate and crowned
in the presence of the Pope (Pius VII*.) This year he also hammers out a civil code (later it
will be known as the Code Napoleon* or Napoleonic Code) that confirms the legal and
property rights that grew out of the revolution. This consolidates much of the concrete
achievements of the revolution. Unfortunately it also results in putting efficiency ahead of
individual rights and turns the country over to administrative activity and bureaucracy. By this
time the brief era of peace and consolidation is over and France is once more at war. From
1803 to 1814 the French will be continuously at war. At one time or another France is fighting
England, Spain, Austria, Prussia and Russia.
The only thing that makes it drag on so long is that "one time or another" business. Some of
those opposing France switch sides and fight beside her. Each of the eastern countries,
Austria, Prussia and Russia, at one time or another side with Napoleon* when it seems in their
own interest to do so. At home in France Napoleon* makes the general Jean Bernadotte*
(1763-1840) Marshal of France. He also makes Talleyrand* (1754-1838) his grand
chamberlain. [This crafty politician will survive all political changes and be a powerful force
in Europe.] This year Napoleon* appoints the founder of the French classical school of
painting, Jacques Louis David* (1748-1825,) court painter.
In America that business of a northwest passage* is so intriguing that President Jefferson*
sends out an expedition led by Meriwether Lewis* (1774-1809) and William Clark* (17701838) to explore the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase and find the headwaters of the
Missouri and the Columbia rivers.
1804 - By this year August Schlegel* (see above in introduction) is formulating and
disseminating romantic theory in Germany (and elsewhere) through his lectures in Vienna and
his published essays. He is one of the first to use classicism and romanticism as polar terms.
He regards Shakespeare* as the greatest dramatist ever and translates seventeen of his plays
into German. These translations become the mainstay of German repertory productions into
the twentieth century. Mood, emotion and character are Schlegel*'s idea of the main
ingredients of drama. Schlegel* also, this year, becomes closely associated with Madame de
Stael* (1766-1817, actually she is Anne Louise Germaine, nee Necker, Baronne de StaelHolstein, but we'll call her by the shorter form.) She is married to the Swedish minister at
Paris but left France during the Revolution and was exiled by Napoleon*. She is now keeping
out of Napoleon*'s way. After the fall of his empire she will go back to France and take all
this German romantic stuff with her (more on her later.)
In England, Samuel Taylor Coleridge* (1772-1834), will adapt Schlegel*'s ideas. Coleridge*
had visited in Germany 1798-99 and translated Schiller*'s Wallenstein* into English in 1800.
Napoleon* is a big fan of classical drama and beginning this year he offers annual prizes for
new comedies and tragedies. Most of the winners are not memorable, but it's a nice idea.
1805 Wellesley* (that Englishmen rolling up India for the merchants back home) has
acquired, by conquest, annexation and making alliances, control over most of the
subcontinent. He comes home bringing his brother, Arthur,* with him. Arthur* will now start
fighting in the Napoleonic Wars*.
Back in Europe The English aren't about to put up with Napoleon*'s closing all of Europe to
British trade and Nelson* (Horatio Nelson, 1758-1805) wipes out the French and Spanish
fleets in the battle at Trafalgar*. At the end of the battle, when it is won, a sharpshooter gets a
bead on Nelson* and kills him. The Congreve rockets (originally constructed by Sir William
Congreve*, an artillerist and not to be confused with the playwright) are reintroduced as
weapons into the British army. This will prove a significant visual image for Francis Scott
Key* (see below 1814.)
1805 - In Russia they finally open a state theatre in Moscow. It is staffed by the serfs which
the crown purchases from other successful serf theatres belonging to several nobles.
1805-6 - In America John Howard Payne* (1791-1852) at age 14 publishes The Thespian
Mirror*, a critical journal, and has a play, Julia*, produced at the Park Theatre*. Three years
later he makes his debut as an actor, while continuing to write successful plays. In 1813 he
goes to England where he becomes renowned as a dramatist and critic. He is the first
internationally famous American dramatist. He writes the song, "Home, Sweet Home"* for
one of his plays.
1806 Napoleon* puts his relatives on various thrones to consolidate his conquests. This year
his brother Joseph Bonaparte* is named King of Naples and brother Louis*, King of Holland.
On the war front it is a busy year: Britain blockades the French coast; Prussia declares war on
France; Napoleon* is marching into Germany and issues a decree beginning the "Continental
System" which closes continental ports to British vessels; Napoleon* sets up a Confederation
of the Rhine and makes a kingdom out of Saxony. [With Germany such a fragmented area
there is little national feeling and this fusing of tiny states into larger territorial units is much
appreciated, especially since it also brings terrific career opportunities under the Napoleonic
institutions based on advancement by merit.] This wipe-out in Germany brings a final end to
the Holy Roman Empire (which has been neither Holy nor Roman for a very long time.) It
also lays the groundwork for the eventual union of Germany (it would have happened sooner
under the Austrian Emperor but the Prussians wouldn't go along.)
The British occupy the Cape of Good Hope (Africa.)
1806 - In France Napoleon* puts his organizing talents to the French theatres. He makes a
decree that all the works in the repertories of the state troupes can't be performed by anybody
else. All plays have to be passed by censors. No new theatres can open without special
permission. This is all very well, but the state theatres haven't been straightened out yet.
1807 - Napoleon* deals with the dilemma of who gets to be a state theatre. He authorizes four
state-supported theatres. These are determined by the kind of productions they get to put on.
Regular tragedy and comedy can only be done by the Comedie Francaise*. Anything regarded
as "lesser" drama goes on at the Theatre de l'Imperatice* [later it will be called the Odeon*.]
Grand opera and serious ballet are performed at the Opera*. Comic ballet and light opera goes
on at the Opera-Comique*. These divisions and troupes will continue into the next century.
Next, all but four of the minor theatres in Paris are closed (this won't last long, a few will
creep back later.) These "minor" theatres get to put on what are regarded as "minor" genres.
That means they don't have artistic pretensions, they just do popular stuff. These four get to
divide up the minor genres. Two of them will perform melodramas* and pantomimes, the
Theatre de la Gaite* and the Ambigu-Comique*. The remaining two, the Theatre des
Varietes* and the Vaudeville*, get to do short plays, comedies-en-vaudevilles (these are oneact plays with new lyrics set to popular tunes) and parodies.
In England there is a new Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Dartmouth, (who got the job in
1804.) He interprets the Licensing Act (which governs what plays may be produced) in a
liberal fashion and encourages the establishment of minor theatres in the City of Westminster
(a part of London.) This year he starts issuing permits for a number of new theatres. This is a
good idea since the population of the city is growing by leaps and bounds and audiences are
increasing. In 1800 there were only six theatres in the London area and by 1843 there will be
twenty-one. While England tries something similar to France, keeping regular drama
exclusively in the patent houses (the original Drury Lane*, The Haymarket* and Covent
Garden*) these three have trouble keeping audiences in the face of the new competition.
Gradually they start adding minor drama to the regular stuff and sometimes as many as three
plays will be included in an evening's bill. The minor theatres counter with all kinds of
devices (like changing Macbeth* into a "ballet of action" and adding songs to regular plays)
to get around the prohibition against their performing regular drama. Regular plays can be
billed as melodramas* if they are divided into three acts (instead of the traditional five) and
some musical accompaniment added. Obviously what happens is there is less and less
difference between what goes on at the patent houses and the minor theatres. They will write
this into law in 1843.
1807 Another brother of Napoleon*, Jerome*, becomes King of Westphalia. France invades
Portugal and the royal Portuguese family runs off to Brazil.
The United States Embargo Act against Britain and France is enacted to combat the taking of
American sailors and their "impressment" into British naval service.
Fulton* has his workable and affordable steamboat, the Clermont*, in operation, steaming up
to Albany and back on the Hudson River.
In the art world the English landscape painter, John Constable* (1776-1837) is working.
In Germany the philosopher Hegel* (1770-1831) comes out with one of his major works,
Phanomenologie des Geistes*. He is a metaphysician with a philosophy of the Absolute. His
system will come to be known as Hegelianism*.
1808 Napoleon* invades Spain and puts brother Joseph* on the Spanish throne and replaces
Joseph* in Naples with another guy (Jochin Murat*.)
The Latin American colonies are cut off from Spain and Portugal by Napoleon*'s subjection
of the mother countries. This leads to Latin American wars of independence with Spain.
Portugal's rulers, who are already in Brazil to escape Napoleon,* have the good sense to lead
Brazil to self-government. The southern revolution is spearheaded by San Martin's army of
the Andes. The northern one is led by Simon Bolivar *, who has a much harder time of it with
the Spanish troops. Mexico runs its own revolution.
In America, the U.S. Constitution requires that the slave trade end this year. This does not
apply to internal domestic trade in slaves, but it does demand that President Jefferson* and the
United States prohibit the importation of slaves from Africa (or anywhere else).
1809 - The romantic movement includes what is called "fate tragedy." This is started this year
by Zacharias Werner* (1768-1823) with his play, The Twenty-Fourth of February*. It is
produced at Wiemar and helps spread the influence of Schiller*. Since Werner*'s play is
inspired by one of Schiller's, and, it's terrifically popular, a lot of other writers start imitating
Schiller.
In Russia the government sets up a theatrical training school in conjunction with the Moscow
state theatre.
In the United States the first indigenous American drama, The Indian Princess; or, La Belle
Sauvage* by James Nelson Barker* (1784-1858) is produced at the Park Theatre*. Later, it
will be the first American play to be produced in England at Drury Lane*.
1809 In the United States James Madison* becomes the fourth president.
In Sweden King Gustavus IV is deposed and Charles XIII* succeeds. To show how loyal to
the French they are, Jean Bernadotte* (Marshal of France) is elected Crown Prince of
Sweden.
In Germany Metternich* (1773-1859, (whose full name is Prince Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk
Lothar von Metternich so you see why everybody calls him by his last name) is named chief
Minister of Austria. He will be an active player in European politics for years, including
getting Napoleon* his second wife. Noted for his skillful diplomacy he will be largely
responsible for a policy of stability of European governments and suppressing liberal ideas
and revolutionary movements.
What with all this revolution business, especially the effect of France on Spain and Portugal,
South American areas start breaking off from Spain. They want political freedom,
administrative autonomy and economic self-determination. The Portuguese royal family
agrees with this and leads Brazil peacefully toward nationhood (Brazil will become an
independent kingdom in 1815) but Spain tries to crush her colonies.
This year Ecuador begins to get its independence. In the north (out of Venezuela) a vigorous
revolution begins, led by Simon Bolivar (1783-1830, also known as the Liberator.) It will take
him, and others, quite a while to make the Spanish give up.
By this date the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution* are showing up in the coalfields of
central Europe (the Ruhr, Sambre, and Meuse valleys in Germany, France and Belgium) and,
on a small scale in capital cities like Paris and Berlin. English machines, plans and engines
stream into Europe along with English skilled artisans and entrepreneurs.
This year the American author, Washington Irving* (1783-1859,) comes out with Rip Van
Winkle*.
1810 - Madame de Stael* puts out her work, Of Germany*, which is written in French and,
together with her later personal efforts, will introduce Schlegel's ideas and German
Romanticism to France and Italy.
In France Pierre-Luc-Charles Ciceri* (1782-1868) has become the top designer of this period.
From this date he is head designer for the Opera* but he works for just about all the other
Parisian theatres too.
1810 By this time New York city is the most dynamic urban center in the New World. This
year the population is 100,000 and in sixty years it will pass 1,000,000. More than two-thirds
of the immigrants to the United States will pass through here. There are enormous population
shifts as Europeans emigrate to the Americas, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Indians
emigrate to Indochina and Africa, and, European Russians emigrate to Siberia and North
Africa. African slaves are moved to the Americas and Arabia.
This year Argentina becomes independent.
In Germany the Krupp* works open at Essen. So far they just produce iron, later they will
move into armaments.
1811 - This year a German dramatist, Heinrich von Kleist* (1777-1811) comes out with his
masterpiece, The Prince of Homburg*. This poor guy has had little connection with the
romantics and nobody encouraged him. He will remain almost totally unknown until Tieck*
publishes his collected works in 1826. Even then it will take a while for his works to become
popular, but, by 1900 he will be better regarded than most of his contemporaries and some of
his plays are still prominent in German repertory.
1811 The English finally figure out that George III* is insane and the Prince of Wales
becomes the Prince Regent.
A future president, William Henry Harrison* (1773-1841), defeats Tecumseh and his Indian
troops at Tippecanoe, Indiana. Later he will run his political campaign on this military effort
("Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too.").
Paraguay becomes independent of Spain.
The British occupy the island of Java.
Jane Austen* (1775-1817,) English novelist, comes out with Sense and Sensibility*.
1812 In Europe Napoleon* controls most of western Europe. This year he makes the mistake
of trying to invade Russia. The Prussians, who think this is a neat idea, provide him with safe
passage through their territory. In the United States Madison* is reelected president and
Louisiana becomes a state. In reaction to the high-handedness of the British who take
American sailors and "impress" them into British naval service, the rising number of
"skirmishes" on the Canadian borders and other problems, the United States declares war on
Britain. [This one may be remembered as the War of 1812*.]
This year Louisiana becomes a state.
The brothers Grimm*, (Jacob 1785-1863, and Wilhelm 1786-1859,) come out with what is
known in English as Grimm's Fairy Tales*
1813 Napoleon* is defeated in Russia and begins the long trek home. This encourages
Austria, Russia, Prussia and Britain to form an alliance and try to defeat France in Europe.
The waltz sweeps European ballrooms.
This year another German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer* (1788-1860,) the chief
expounder of pessimism, comes out with a major work, Uber die Vierfache Wurzel des Satzes
vom Zureichenden Grunde.
In Italy the prolific operatic composer, Rossini* (1792-1868) comes out with his opera,
Tancredi*. He will go on to write 39 operas in all, plus many other musical works.
1813 - Another English romantic poet tries writing a play. This time it is the major theorist of
romanticism in England, Samuel Taylor Coleridge* (1772-1834.) His play is called
Remorse*.
One of the great English critics, William Hazlitt* (1778-1830) begins reviewing plays for the
London papers this year.
1814 - In England this year Edmund Kean* (1789-1833) makes his debut at Drury Lane* in a
major role. He appears as Shylock* in The Merchant of Venice* in untraditional costume and
a villainous character. The audiences love his new version. He will have a checkered career,
appearing at his best in murderous villain parts, but plagued by undisciplined behavior, a
terrific temper and a habit of drinking to excess. When he is good he is unbeatable, but often
he is drunk, mediocre, or absent entirely.
1814 The armies of Austria, Russia, Prussia and England converge on France. The French
people urge Napoleon* to make peace, but he won't. He is defeated and sent into exile on the
island of Elba (off the west coast of Italy.)
As a reward for his efforts in leading the British forces on their drive into France through
Spain, Arthur Wellesley* is created the Duke of Wellington*.
The French statesman, Talleyrand* (Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Prigord, 1754-1838, a
fascinating chap who plays a leading role in French governments from the revolution through
1830), is instrumental in rebuilding the government after Napoleon's* defeat earlier this year.
Talleyrand* helps in restoring the Bourbons to the French throne and when Louis XVIII*
takes the French throne as his hereditary right Talleyrand* becomes his minister for foreign
affairs.
In England, what with all that canal building and digging coal, some people have been
noticing two interesting things that show up. One is the strata (layers of different kinds of rock
and soil) and the other are fossils. A canal-builder named William Smith* writes up his
conclusions on the relationship between strata and fossils in a work called Strata Identified By
Organized Fossils* published this year. Now this endeavor raises some perplexing religious
and philosophical questions. It seems that there are some fossils of things that are no longer
around and there are also fossils in upper layers that aren't there in deeper layers. This seems
to imply that God must have changed his mind about retaining some animals he had originally
created but which are now extinct. A French Professor of Vertebrate Zoology at the Paris
Museum of Natural History, Georges Cuvier*, comes up with a possible solution. He also
finds fossils of extinct animals, especially dinosaurs, together with marine life. This, he
suggests, shows that extinction is due to catastrophic floods (both the biblical one and an
earlier one before the creation of man.) This seems to do for the moment, but more geologic
and paleontologic investigations will cause more problems in the near future.
This year the first practical locomotive runs at the collier at Killingworth, England. Railways
will follow rapidly and the nature of transportation will change.
In the United States, the War of 1812* is still going on and during the British siege of Ft.
McHenry (Baltimore harbor), what with all those British Congreve rockets flying around,
Francis Scott Key* (1779-1843) writes the Star Spangled Banner*. British forces also burn
Washington, D.C.. In December the Treaty of Ghent ends the war.
1815 Napoleon* escapes from Elba and rules France again for one hundred days. He is finally
defeated by Wellington* at Waterloo* (near Brussels in Belgium) and this time is exiled to
the island of St. Helena* (a British possession off the coast of southwest Africa.)
In the United States the War of 1812* is finally over and the country can get down to
expansion and growth. But, even though the war is over, there are a few tardy battles. This is
the year of the Battle of New Orleans* where the Americans defeat the British after the war is
officially over, but before the confirming news of the treaty of Ghent arrives there.
Medicine takes a step forward when England forbids unqualified doctors to practice.
1816 This year a French doctor comes up with the idea of a stethoscope. This, together with
the Viennese idea of checking the condition of the heart and lungs by tapping the chest, leads
to a more detailed examination of the patient.
Indiana becomes a state.
The Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar grants the first German constitution.
There is a big economic crisis in England which gives rise to large-scale emigration to Canada
and the United States.
Post-Napoleonic World
Once the map of Europe is cleaned up after Napoleon* and the influence of his ideas,
romanticism begins to be picked up in other countries and becomes out of fashion in
Germany. Revolution will rise up in an abortive attempt in Germany in 1830. We will follow
the mainstream theatre to other countries.
1817 The United States inaugurates its fifth president, James Monroe* and Mississippi
becomes a state.
A cholera epidemic breaks out in the Ganges delta in India and spreads toward Europe at
about five miles a day. It will reach parts of Europe in 1829.
In America, they are improving transportation by getting into the canal digging business just
like the British. They start building the Erie Canal between Albany and Buffalo (New York.)
1817 - In Austria a new playwright, Franz Grillparzer* (1791-1872,) comes out with his first
play, The Ancestress*. A later work will be regarded as one of the masterpieces of the
German-speaking theatre. (see below 1823)
1818 This is the year Mary Wollstonecraft (nee Godwin) Shelley* (1797-1851) comes out
with her novel Frankenstein*. A perennial favorite of the Gothic romantics and obviously
influenced by the rise of pathological anatomy in France.
The first steamship (the "Savannah") crosses the Atlantic in 26 days. Transportation is
improving by leaps and bounds.
The border between the United States and Canada is agreed upon (the 49th parallel.) Illinois
becomes a state.
In Sweden Bernadotte* becomes Charles XIV* on the death of the old king.
In Austria a schoolteacher (Franz Xaver Huber*) writes the music for a curate's (Joseph
Mohr*) words and we get Silent Night, Holy Night*.
1818 - James Robinson Planche* (1796-1880) playwright and antiquarian, produces his first
play this year, Amoroso, King of Little Britain*. He will become best known for his
knowledge and expertise in costume and setting (see 1823). He'll be big in the next period.
1819 - In England, by this date, one of the finest tragedians of his day, William Charles
Macready* (1793-1873) is firmly established both at Covent Garden* and at Drury Lane*. He
is regarded as the only real rival to Edmund Kean*. Like other major English actors he will
tour to America and France. [In 1849 he will be embroiled in the famous Astor Place* Riot in
New York (one of those big fights between fans of the American actor, Edwin Forrest*, and
those of Macready*.]
Two more English romantic poets, John Keats* (1795-1821,) and Percy Bysshe Shelley*
(1792-1822) are writing plays this year. Keats*' play is Otho the Great*. Shelley* writes The
Cenci*, which is a lot like the old Jacobean drama with lots of revenge action.
1819 The U.S. buys Florida from Spain and Alabama becomes a state.
1820 - In England a prolific writer of burlesques, extravaganzas and pantomimes also
produces melodramas.* One of Planche*'s best known works comes out this year, The
Vampire; or, the Bride of the Isles*. His career is devoted primarily to spectacular
extravaganzas. He is a musician and a serious student of art and history (see below.) He will
write a History of British Costume* (1834) and be instrumental in stimulating new legislation
governing dramatic copyright laws and giving greater protection to British dramatists.
In America the actor, Edwin Forrest* (1806-72), is appearing at Philadelphia's's Walnut Street
Theatre*. He will become the leading American actor of this period. Later he will tour to
England with some success. He is regarded as a 'ranting' actor, without much subtlety but full
of passion and fire. He will have a running feud with Macready* and, with the support of
passionate fans, be regarded as the American champion in response to the theatrical

domination of the English. [As noted above, his anti-British fans will lead the Astor Place*
Riot in 1849. It will be bloody, with 22 people killed and another 36 wounded by gunfire from
the militia trying to stop the riot. Since the date 1849 falls in the next period, and the riot is
really part of the Romantic movement, it's best to take note of it here.]
The English are having trouble writing memorable plays. This year one of the most popular
dramatists, James Sheridan Knowles* (1784-1862) gets his first big hit with Virginius*. He is
an actor, which no doubt helps him know what works on stage. This play will soon be playing
regularly in England and America. He is good at putting melodramatic stories together with a
sort of Shakespearian form.
1820s A number of medical journals appear in Paris encouraging specialization in medical
labor. Specialists begin to concentrate on the behavior of particular organs.
In the field of physics Andre Amphere* comes out with Laws of the Electrodynamic Action
and (1821) Michael Faraday* discovers the fundamentals of electromagnetic rotation. These
and other discoveries will lead to the generation of electric power and electric motors and
other such electric marvels.
Ever since the United States was founded there has been an argument over slavery. Now the
argument takes place in Congress and centers around whether or not new states should be
allowed to have slavery.
This year the "Missouri Compromise" permits Maine to become a free state (1820) while
Missouri enters the union as a slave state (1821.)
1821 - Still another romantic English poet is writing plays. This year Lord Byron* (George
Gordon, 1788-1824) gets the only one of his plays produced in his lifetime put on the stage,
Marino Faliero*. He is better at playwriting than the other English romantic poets, but that
isn't saying much. All of his plays will eventually be performed, but not often.
1821 Napoleon* dies in exile on the island of St. Helena*.
Mexico becomes an independent state with a northern border running east and west in a line
north of Utah's Great Salt Lake, and east to the eastern edge of present day Texas.
Peru is now independent.
Monroe* begins a second term as U.S. president.
1822 - More advancements in scenery are made this year with Daguerre* (Louis Jacques
Mande, 1789-1851) opening his diorama* in Paris. [He will later invent the daguerreotype*.]
It shows the audience two different paintings, each of which change in appearance by varying
the lighting. It shows great effects of changing weather and time of day, using translucent
cloth and light to make things appear and disappear.
That top designer, Ciceri*, is so busy that this year he opens one of the first scenic design
studios in Paris to better handle all this business. With this innovation independent scenic
studios begin to replace those attatched to individual theatres.
The year the new Opera* building opens with all the latest technical devices including gas
lighting and lots of systems to pipe water around for fountains and other aquatic stage effects.
1822 Brazil becomes an independent Empire.
Franz von Liszt* (1811-1886,) the Hungarian pianist and composer makes his debut (age 11)
at the piano in Vienna.
Franz Peter Schubert* (1797-1828,) the Austrian composer, known as the greatest master of
song in musical history, comes out with his "Unfinished" Symphony (Symphony No. 8 in B
minor.)
1823 - This is a landmark year in scenic design and staging. In England, Planche* designs and
supervises the costumes for Charles Kean*'s production of King John* (Shakespeare*.) This
production is the first to attempt costuming with complete historical accuracy for each and
every character in the play. This idea will take a little time to catch on but it marks the
beginning of a trend.
In France, Marie-Henri Beyle Stendhal* (1783-1842), a writer, comes out with some
enormously popular romantic novels and, this year, Racine and Shakespeare*. This work fuels
the fire of controversy between the neoclassical French and the French Romantic movement.
In Austria Grillparzer* writes Konig Ottokars Gluck und Endde*. This historical play in the
style of Schiller* is banned for two years (it smacks of Napoleon*) but will eventually be well
produced and hailed as a masterpiece.
1823 Mexico becomes a republic.
In America James Fenimore Cooper* (1789-1851) comes out with the first of his LeatherStocking* novels.
1824 In the United States no one gets a majority in the presidential election so the House of
Representatives elects John Quincy Adams* as the next (sixth) president.
In France a new artist, Delacroix* (Ferdinand Victor Eugune, 1798-1863,) the leader of the
romantic school, is painting Les Massacres de Chinos.
In England British workers are now legally allowed to unionize, and they will.
Charles X* becomes king of France.
1825 - An interesting year in Russia as Alexander Sergeivich Pushkin* finishes his historical
play, Boris Gugonov*. It won't be allowed to be published for six more years. It won't appear
on the stage for almost fifty years (1870.) However, Pushkin* is the leader of the new
romantic style in Russia. For the Russians the important thing is to return to Russian history,
folklore and themes as subject matter for a truly Russian theatre. The best known form of
Pushkin*'s work comes to us by way of the 1874 opera when Musorgski* (or Mussorgsky,
Modest Petrovich 1835-1881) uses this play as the libretto.
By this date the Director of Repertory for the Imperial Theatres (Prince Alexander
Shakhovskoy*, in charge 1801-26) has visited a number of western theatrical centers and, in
an attempt to raise the quality level of production in Russian theatres, devises regulations that
will govern the state troupes from now until the revolution in 1917. Many of these regulations
are based on the French Comedie Francaise* and concern rehearsals, behavior and even the
personal lives of the actors. In 1839 the actors will become part of the civil service.
Since the Russian crown has a monopoly on theatrical production in Moscow and St.
Petersburg, this sets the tone for Russia. There are three theatres in St. Petersburg: the
Bolshoi* (which means "large," used mostly for opera and ballet); the Maly* (which means
"small," it is replaced in 1832 by the Alexandrinsky* and does mainly drama); and the
Mikhailovsky* (where they do foreign plays.) When state theatres were set up in Moscow
they were in temporary buildings, but in 1824 they opened the Moscow Maly*, and in 1825
the Moscow Bolshoi*. [Yes, both cities have theatres named the same thing for the same
kinds of theatrical production. The ones in Moscow continue to the present and are the ones
usually meant by these names.] By this date the Moscow theatres have a reputation for being
superior to those in St. Petersburg. They will continue to hold the lead. The Russians are
conservative and their scenic practices lag behind Europe. In ballet and opera foreign
influence dominates.
1825 Bolivia becomes independent.
This year marks the invention of oxygen-hydrogen limelight* (Sir Goldsworthy Gurney*,
1798-1875) which will shed a lot of light on theatrical stars.
In England, the first railroad to carry passengers opens between Stockton and Darlington.
In America, Samuel Morse* (1791-1872) is busy being an artist and painting Portrait of
Lafayette. Soon he will get around to being an inventor. [He will invent the Morse code and a
working magnetic telegraph by 1837.]
1826 - By this date in France even the Comedie Francaise* is using historically accurate
settings for their productions.
1827 - The French Romantic* movement starts with a bang this year with the publication of
Victor-Marie Hugo*'s (1802-85) Cromwell*. The play is impossible to produce as written (it
would take six hours) but the preface to it becomes a rallying point for the advocates of
romanticism, calling for abandoning the unities, mixing the genres and concentrating on
historical settings for the plots. His main emphasis is on showing both the sublime spiritual
and the grotesque animal nature in order to provide a more truthful picture of humanity. Well,
the whole thing starts an uproar between romantics and classicists that will rage in Paris for
the next three years.
An English company of Charles Kemble* comes to Paris to perform Shakespeare *. The Bard
(Shakespeare* is referred to as the "Bard of Avon") is being widely read aloud and performed
in France now which helps advance the position of the romantics.
1827 Heinrich Heine* (1797-1856,) a German Jewish lyric poet and literary critic is writing.
In England, Benjamin Disraeli* (1804-81,) later to be a big time politician, is busy being an
author. He puts out his novel Vivian Grey* this year.
In Germany the composer, pianist and conductor, Felix Mendelssohn* (1809-47) is
composing his Overture to "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Opus 21.
Still more about electricity is becoming known as George S. Ohm* (1787-1854) comes up
with his law defining electrical current potential and resistance.
The ship's screw propeller is invented (by Joseph Ressel 1793-1857.)
Transportation moves forward.
1828 In the United States the Federalist party has disappeared and the Jeffersonians have
divided into the National-Republicans, led by John Quincy Adams* (loser in this election)
and the Democrat-Republicans led by Andrew Jackson* (who wins the presidential election.)
Noah Webster* (1758-1843) comes out with his American Dictionary of the English
Language*.
Construction of the Baltimore and Ohio, the first American railroad for freight and
passengers, is inaugurated this year.
In England the novelist (and later playwright) Edward George Bulwer-Lytton* (1803-73)
comes out with his novel, Pelham*.
1828 - Another English troupe headed by William Charles Macready* performs Shakespeare*
and romantic plays in Paris.
By this time the French are publishing prompt books that describe in detail all the special
effects and scenery used for the current crop of melodramas* and romantic plays as well as
other shows where spectacle is vital. They even tell how to get the same general effect by
taking short cuts if your theatre doesn't have the equipment.
1829 The Cholera epidemic (from India) reaches parts of Austria, Poland, Germany and
Sweden this year. They have never experienced this disease and the effects are traumatic. This
same year also sees the invention of the achromatic microscope by Joseph Jackson Lister*
(no, it's his son who will found antiseptic surgery later.) This new microscope gets rid of the
aberrations that have prevented people from seeing clearly through earlier microscopes. These
two events will lead to a radical approach to public health and state intervention by raising the
doctor to a place of control over populations. The concern for discovering the mechanism by
which disease spreads is particularly strong as cholera moves over Europe. In Paris 7000 die
of cholera in eighteen days.
Geologic investigations are continuing and this year the Englishman, Charles Lyell*,
publishes with his three volume Principles of Geology*. He attempts to reconstruct the history
of earth with an 'adequate' time-scale. His conclusion is that the time frame involves millions
of years. Much more will follow on this in the next period.
Jackson* is inaugurated as the seventh U.S. president.
In Mexico slavery is abolished.

The Americban poet and story writer, Edgar Allen Poe* (1809-1849,) publishes some of his
first work this year (Tamerlane and Other Poems.)
The first U.S. patent on a typewriter is granted (to William B. Burt of Detroit.)
Also in America the religious society of Mormons or Latterday Saints is founded by Joseph
Smith and his friends at Fayette, N.Y.
The composer and pianist, Frederic Chopin* (1810-1849,) has his professional debut in
Vienna as a piano virtuoso.
In British India the custom of suttee* (burning the widow along with her dead husband) is
abolished. Unfortunately the practice does not disappear and is still with us today.
In France the novelist Honore de Balzac* achieves his first success with a historical novel, Le
Dernier Chouan.
1829 - This year romantic plays are showing up at the Comedie Francaise*. Alexandre
Dumas, pere* (1802-70), who is better remembered now for his novels, brings out the first
triumph of the French Romantic movement, Henri III et sa cour*. [He is called pere (father) to
distinguish him from his illegitimate son of the same name who will be called fils (son).]
Marino Faliero*, by Casimir Delavigne (1793-1843), is only mildly romantic, retaining some
of the neoclassical form. Since he is already a member of the French Academy*, this romantic
effort is significant. The Moor of Venice*, by Alfred de Vigny*, is an adaptation of
Shakespeare's Othello*. This is de Vigny*'s first attempt at playwrighting. He will produce
two original plays, of which the second, Chatterton*, (1835) will be one of the great successes
of the French Romantic period.
By this time the concern for historical accuracy dominates the production end of the French
theatre.
1829 - In Russia Ducange*'s (Victor Henri Joseph Brahain, 1783-1833) French melodrama,*
Thirty Years* is produced and sets off Russian enthusiasm for melodrama* and musical
plays. Soon there will be Russian translations of Shakespeare* [Nikolai Polevoy*, a
melodrama* writer, translates and adapts Hamlet* and its production in 1837 in Moscow is an
event of tremendous importance. This production marks a turning point in Russian Romantic
drama.] These translations and adaptations of Shakesperian tragedies will become an integral
part of the repertories of companies in both capitals and in the provinces. In Russia classic
tragedy is being replaced by romantic drama and Shakespeare* is definitely considered the
peak of romanticism.
1830 - The most important author of the French Romantic movement shows up this year.
Alfred de Musset* has a production of his A Venetian Night* and it flops. This discourages
him so much that he gives up writing for production. Fortunately he does not stop writing and
in 1847 his plays will start being performed. They will continue to be produced down to the
present time. Musset* manages to fuse the new romantic drama with the classical tradition by
centering his plays on the inner feelings of his characters but moving freely through time and
space. He will write most of his work between now and 1840.
This year also marks the high point of the fight between romantics and classicists when
Hugo*'s Hernani* goes on at the Comedie Francaise*. It is basically a melodrama* with an
unhappy ending. The supporters of both sides get into a raging battle that drowns out the
actors and continues for three nights. The battle is an important one since both sides realize
that the future of the French stage depends on who wins. The romantics win. French
Romanticism is usually dated from this event, but as you can see it has been going for a while.
This production is actually the high water mark of the Romantic movement. It will gradually
fade over the next ten years as the leading movement, but romanticism continues as a
mainstream form.
1830 This year both Venezuela and Ecuador become independent.
Serbia is a fully autonomous state.
There is a revolution in Paris [Talleyrand* is involved in this one too] and Charles X*
abdicates. Louis Phillipe* (1773-1850) becomes the "Citizen King." Despite all this turmoil a
French tailor comes up with the beginning of the sewing machine.
In England the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson* (1809-92) publishes some of his early work
(Poems, Chiefly Lyrical.)
1830's - In Russia another romantic writer, Mikhail Lermontov* (1814-1841), is writing some
plays along with his better known poetry.
1831 The cholera epidemic reaches England where it races through the urban populations. In
two years 22,000 will die. This year the first Board of Health is set up in response to the
epidemic. This event, together with the headlong changes brought on by the industrial
revolution, will give rise to widespread social changes in England.
1834 - Musset* writes his tragic No Trifling With Love* and what is probably the finest
historical drama of the century, Lorenzaccio*. His best known works also include: A Door
Should Be Either Open or Shut*, Les Caprices de Marianne* , Fantasio*, It's Impossible To
Think of Everything*, One Can Never Be Sure of Anything*, and The Decoy*.
******************************
Afterword
The Romantic period in the theatre doesn't so much come to an end as it is overtaken and
passed by other movements. Romanticism continues, and even grows in quantity, quality and
wide-spread distribution. This is the first time in theatre history that a stylistic movement does
not die out when a new one arises. One of the most enduring and popular romantic writers
(Edmund Rostand* ) will show up at the end of this century and be regarded as a neoromantic."
Actually, there is no such thing as neo-romantic, simply a strong tradition, which continues
into the present day, of the Romantic movement.
The Romantic period is overwhelmed by the tide of the Industrial Revolution,* which sweeps
the western world into a social change so great and so basic that we have yet to come to terms
with it. Romanticism, like classicism, continues as a viable form, but it is no longer the
leading edge of experiment and the primary font of truth on the stage. Melodrama,* too,
continues to thrive and provide entertainment for the public at large.
An excellent view of the developments of this period can be found in Tom F. Driver's
Romantic Quest and Modern Query; A History of the Modern Theater (New York: Delta,
1971).
In his Introduction to The Portable Romantic Reader (New York: Viking, 1957) Howard E.
Hugo provides a succinct discussion of the Romantic movement and its characteristics.
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PART III
Realism and Symbolism - The Flowering
1830 - 1939
Introduction
We are now into the really busy period of theatre where things are changing right and left and
so is everything in society. Although the industrial revolution got started in England during
the previous period it's only now beginning to spread widely over the European continent. So
we will be following the results and ramifications of that revolution, through the height of
colonial empires into the Second World War. We begin in the middle of the political ferment
of rising European nationalism and end in global war.
In terms of what society is up to, western thought has shaken itself free from being dazzled by
the ideas of classic Greece and Rome and launched itself into a frenzy of intellectual and
scientific exploration. All this exploration and discovery is about to run smack up against
traditional Christian religious beliefs about the nature of the world. This is a real bombshell
for Western thought. The mysterious and distant East is getting much less distant, what with
all the advances in transportation, and some of their ideas and ways of expression are starting
to filter back into European consciousness. The Europeans don't necessarily understand these
Eastern ideas, but they get pretty excited about them in all the arts.
It is, in other words, a time of tremendous change, and nowhere is this more evident than in
theatre. The previous theatrical genre of Romanticism continues to be popular and turns into
one of the mainstream genres (the other one still hanging around is classicism). Romanticism,
with its sidekick, melodrama, has attracted really big theatrical audiences from the middle and
lower classes. Theatre is now for everybody, and that means that it will begin to split up into a
lot of different ways of showing different segments of the audience the reality of their own
lives. The first new way comes to be called realism, but there will soon be a big bunch of
others, all doing their own thing at the same time.
The start of the industrial revolution has begun to revolutionize transportation and both steam
shipping and the railroad are starting to make the world seem smaller. European colonial
empires which began in the fifteenth century are now spreading over the farthest corners of
the world.
This part of theatre history is difficult to follow because important, but very different things,
are happening in a lot of countries at much the same time. For this reason we will be covering
the same time frame several times from different points of view.
The Industrial Revolution Now, historically speaking, the term "Industrial Revolution" refers to the period of British
history covering the hundred years between about 1750 and about 1850 when England is busy
starting it and getting it up and running. But, since this revolution spreads to different
countries at different times, we will be using the term Industrial Revolution in the broader
sense. Broadly speaking, it refers to the biggest change in human society since people quit
being nomadic hunters and settled down to start agriculture. It is the move from a settled
agricultural and commercial society to what we call the modern industrial society. [You will
notice that this gives us the current view of various cultures as nomadic (they didn't settle
down to agriculture), undeveloped (they didn't make the jump from agriculture to industry),
and the industrial countries.]
In the pre-industrial situation (before the 1750's) the only kinds of power available are muscle
power (human and animal), water power (like that used by mills to grind grain) and wind
power (sailing ships and wind mills). The power of fire is used for heating, cooking and
smelting metals. For metal smelting, the only good fuel is charcoal (made from wood).
Society is pretty stable since it is basically agricultural (growing all the food and raw
materials) and commercial (moving and selling all the stuff). Turning raw materials into
finished goods is done by hand, which means it's a family affair with hired hands and
apprentices for big time businesses. For producing finished goods there are hand looms, hand
printing presses, etc. The center of production is in the home. You don't "go off to work" for
most occupations. But all this stability changes with the Industrial Revolution.
The Problems
The whole change starts with some really severe problems in England. The weather has been
terrific (since 1720) and the agricultural side of things is booming. This makes for earlier
marriages, bumper crops of kids and a need for lots more household goods. Commerce is also
booming, what with more and more colonial possessions around the world all sending back
more raw materials. But this brings several problems.
First there is the transportation problem. The roads are lousy and getting the raw materials
from point A to point B takes weeks. This means it is expensive. The mills are where the
power is, up in the hills where there is running water. The products of the mills are needed in
the cities, where they are sold and shipped.
Second there is the problem of wood. There isn't much left. What with all that ship building to
have transport to distant colonies and turning what's left into charcoal to make iron for a rising
population's domestic needs (pots, stoves, etc.) there is a real fuel crunch. Now there's lots of
coal around (actually under) England and this works fine for most heating but it's got
impurities that make for lousy iron production.
Third is the problem of water in the mines. The deeper you dig (for coal, for tin, iron, etc.) the
more water seeps in, especially if you are digging on an island.
And last there are the problems of surplus cash and raw materials (especially cotton,) coming
in from the colonies with not enough to do with them. The cotton can't make a very speedy
trip through the cottage spinning wheels and hand looms, and the cash is just sitting around.
The Solutions
By and large the solutions to all these problems come from an industrious group of Britishers
called Dissenters. These are all the non-Anglican Protestants who are (because of the Civil
War of 1640-60) forbidden by law to hold a position in local government, civil service or
universities. They can go into trade, however. Their religion (Quaker, Presbyterian, Unitarian,
etc.) advocates hard work, excellence and success in their enterprises which makes them
natural entrepreneurs. They also set up their own schools (since they can't attend the
universities) where they teach in English (the universities still use Latin) and have practical
courses with really terrific science labs and hands-on experience. Solutions begin to pop up
like daisies with these entrepreneurs, the surplus finance pouring in from the colonial
plantations and expanding international trade and the expanding credit systems (introduced by
that Dutchman England brought in as a King, William II of the Netherlands, later known as
the William of William and Mary).
The earliest solution comes in 1707 when a Quaker named Abraham Darby in a village
Shropshire starts to use coke (coal that has impurities burned out of it) for his iron works. The
coke makes terrific iron and there is an endless supply of it. The next solution deals with the
problem of water in the mines. An ironmonger from Devon, another Dissenter named Thomas
Newcomen, uses Darby's iron to cast a cylinder for a pumping engine he designs to take water
out of a mine. The engine works by using atmospheric pressure to push the plunger down and
steam to raise it up. It works so well it is still working (in a museum).
Meanwhile the transportation problem, made more acute by the need to move tons of coal, is
being solved by building canals. Since England has lots of navigable rivers, adding canals
works wonders. It's a lot easier to move tons of stuff on water than it is to fix all those roads.
Since the Seven Years War is over (in 1763) the government has some surplus cash to put into
the infrastructure and canals get top priority. By 1775 there is a network of canals connecting
the major coal fields with the major ports. By 1770, to make use of the coke, the ironmasters
are putting up permanent furnaces on the plains of Lancaster near the ports where all that coal
is showing up in abundance and where finished iron can be shipped out to the colonies or sent
back up the canals to local markets.
By the 1760's new machines begin showing up to handle all that surplus cotton. There is a
new weaving loom (invented by a Lancashire clock-maker named John Kay) that lets one
person weave a double width cloth. Seven years later James Hargreaves invents the spinning
jenny so yarn-spinners can keep up with the new loom. These are all still hand-run but they
increase production. In 1769 a wig-maker named Richard Arkwright figures out how to use
water power to work with people power and comes up with the water-frame machine. He
brings all kinds of textile workers together in the first factory.
The next step comes about with the development of crucible steel (in the 1750's by Benjamin
Huntsman, a clock-maker from Doncaster) which, in turn, makes it possible for ironmasters to
cut iron with the precision of a few millimeters. The great ironmaster James Wilkinson
invents a new way to bore cannon muzzles with great accuracy. All this may not seem
relevant but it makes better machines possible. Especially one of the first, developed by James
Watt. Watt has been working out improvements on Newcomen's engine to drain the water out
of mines. He comes up with one because he is able (thanks to Huntsman's steel and
Wilkinson's boring technique) to make a piston in a cylinder that is almost air-tight. His steam
engine is a great hit in the mines but the demand for power in the factories requires something
different. In 1781 one of Watt's assistants, a guy named William Murdock, develops a way to
use Watt's steam engine (which drives a piston up and down) to provide the rotary motion
needed for factory machinery. The steam engine spins a shaft and belts around the shaft run
individual machines in the factory. The factory system takes off like a rocket.
But the use of the steam engine doesn't stop there. An ironmaster named Henry Cort uses it to
come up with a new way of producing iron that is better and makes fifteen times as much.
With this technique, iron is cheaper than wood, and engineering, building and machines are
all changed. Transportation is also changed. Canals haven't solved all the transportation
problems and, although roads are being improved, they only serve as a place to move horse
drawn vehicles. An English engineer named George Stephenson (1781-1848) builds the first
locomotive to run on steam power, for hauling coal. Once he develops it they start laying rails
everywhere. Although railroads begin as a freight hauling business, passenger service can't be
far behind. And, of course, if the steam engine works on moving a machine on land, why not
on the water? A number of people experiment with steam for ships but they're not too
successful until 1807 when an American, Robert Fulton (1765-1815), comes up with his
steam-powered Claremont and makes the 150 mile trip from Albany to New York in 32
hours. A real speedy trip for the time. Everybody jumps on this bandwagon too and in 1819 a
combination sail and steam ship, the Savannah, crosses the Atlantic. Traveling by steam
power alone will take a few years to develop [see below 1838].
The Industrial Revolution Spreads
Since the ability for industrializing depends on coal and iron ore fields that provide fuel for
the power and raw material for all the machinery, the possession of either or both of these two
natural resources becomes critical in international power. England, for example, is practically
an island of coal, while Sweden rests on iron ore. On the continent the Ruhr Valley, Silesia (in
the Carpathian Mountains) and the Saar regions of Germany provide both raw materials. The
minute people find out about what England is doing, they want to do it too. This revolution
spreads rapidly to the continent and America. In England and America industrial development
is financed primarily by private capital. In Europe, a good deal of the financing is undertaken
by the various states. There are some continental exceptions. In Germany, for example, the
native entrepreneur Alfred Krupp of Essen starts with coal mining, then steel, and will
become one of the largest manufacturers of armaments in the world.
As we move through this period we will see industrial expansion, on a geometric scale, cover
the world, ending in the staggering industrial production evident in the Second World War.
The Political Setting The area of the world we're mostly concerned with (until after 1917) is Europe. This is where
the action is. The Spanish, French, Dutch, English, and Portuguese have all led in building
colonial empires around the world. Some pieces of this colonial empire (like the Americas)
have already moved to become nations in their own rights, but these new countries are busy
with their own development and internal matters and don't affect the larger movement of
events.
After the final fall of Napoleon (in 1815) we face the rise of nationalism in Europe. The
primary powers of established nations in Europe are England, France and the AustroHungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is the messy tag-end of the old Holy
Roman Empire territory which belongs to the Hapsburgs. It is currently under the control of
Francis I who quit being Holy Roman Emperor (as Francis II) in 1806 and became Emperor
of Austria and King of Bohemia and Hungary. Which is why they call it the AustroHungarian Empire. It dominates the peoples from Bohemia through the Balkans, including
Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, Bosnians, and Bulgarians, among others.
The struggle for national status will occur among the peoples of the Germans, Russians (who
control most of the Poles), Italians and Scandinavians. These are all still in a state of flux. In
Italy and Germany there will be a struggle for unification. Beginning in 1815, German
unification will not be resolved until 1871. At the end of the Napoleonic wars the Congress of
Vienna created the German Confederation which was a really loose federation of all those
German states. Prussia and Austria are rivals for this territory. Eventually it will lead to war
[see below 1866]. Prussia dominates the German scene where the French borders (especially
the districts of Alsace and Lorraine) will be a constant bone of contention. In other places
(like the Polish parts of Russia) there will be struggles for separation.
The Scandinavians (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland) have been dominated first by
Sweden (began a decline in 1721, losing Finland to Russia in 1809) and then by the Danes
(who owned Norway until 1815 when they gave it to Sweden). Norway will not become a
completely independent country until 1905.
As we move through this period we will encounter ever growing conflicts over resources and
markets, again, culminating in the Second World War.
The Theatre In Its Social Context
Throughout this period the first, and main, theatrical center is Paris. This is where we left off
with Romanticism and where other experimentation is, even now, beginning. After the final
fall of Napoleon, France has given up European conquest and turned to intellectual, scientific
and cultural conquests. If France cannot be the center of a geographical and political empire,
she will certainly do her best to lead in all other ways. This is the period of Paris as the center
of western culture. She will not lose her place until the Second World War.
In most of Europe, theatre is funded and controlled by the government (whether city or state
depends on the country). In England, theatre is in private control. Gradually the rest of Europe
will add some privately controlled theatre but by and large it will remain in municipal control.
This financial arrangement makes it possible to have a large number of well-equipped theatre
buildings which house large, well supported companies. The trade off is that when theatre is
an expression of national esteem it's down right conservative in content, but, it's expensively
lavish in architecture, design and production. It takes private enterprise to be willing and able
to support theatres trying out new and unusual things.
What with the Industrial Revolution, the make-up of society is rapidly changing as production
shifts from families and their homes or farms to factories in the cities. People stream into
these new centers of production and families are fragmented as everybody now goes off to
work instead of working in the home. A whole new mix of people now makes up theatre
audiences. As usual theatre will reflect these new audiences and their interests. These are
primarily middle class people who want to see their own lives and preoccupations reflected on
the stage. New styles to fit new content is the order of the day.
This period continues the intellectual, philosophical, scientific, technological, political,
religious, and social turmoil. All this revolution revolutionizes the theatre. It also accelerates
conflict, ending the period in the world-wide cataclysm of the Second World War.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.............................Realism Begins 1830-1877 Chap13
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.............................Realism Triumphant 1877 - 1905 Chap14
CHAPTER FIFTEEN..............................Experiment and Symbolism 1905-14 Chap15
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.......................The War To End All Wars And After 1914-1925
Chap16
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN............................Jazz Age And Depression 1925-1939 Chap17
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PART II Introduction
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Realism* Begins
1830-1877
Introduction We need to take a little time here to get a grasp of the social and political state of affairs in
Europe, which are currently just about as messy as they are now. Since theatre reflects
society, it will make more sense if we can focus on the turmoil out of which this theatrical
movement comes.
Political State of Affairs
It's been fifteen years since the final defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna* (181415) that was supposed to put Europe back in some sort of reasonable order after the
Napoleonic Wars (remember, he conquered most of Europe and part of Russia?). It is also
pretty messy along the edges of the shrinking Ottoman Turk Empire (centered in Turkey).
Europe is being tidied up by the chief powers (Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia and France) in
a London Conference. They recognize Greece as an independent nation and order the
separation of Belgium from the Netherlands. They are also busy occupying as much territory
as they can in Africa, the near and middle East and in the Far East. The British, French,
Dutch, Russian and German Empires (colonial possessions and adjacent territory) will
continue to grow throughout the nineteenth century.
Austria is trying to fill the power vacuum by sneakily working its way up. At the moment it is
known as the Hapsburg empire*, under Emperor Francis Joseph* (or Franz Joseph, 18301916). The chief player is a really tough cookie called Metternich* (1773-1859) who has been
the foreign minister since 1809. He is the guiding force in the Congress of Vienna* and keeps
on throughout what is referred to as the age of Metternich* (1814-1848). His methods are
heavily into censorship, espionage, and suppressing revolutionary and nationalist movements.
He uses these to maintain the balance of power while helping Austria become top dog in Italy
and the German Confederation*.
German Confederation* (1815-66) is a bunch of 39 German states put together by the
Congress of Vienna* to fill the gap left by the now-defunct Holy Roman Empire. It's a really
loose arrangement with its central diet (a sort of legislative group) under the Austrians.
Prussia* and Austria will be playing tug-of-war with the Germans. [see below 1866].
Prussia* (started way back in the middle ages with a blood-thirsty bunch called the Teutonic
Knights*) has been picking up territory right and left and is currently the top dog among the
Germans with a really awesome military. It will take them a little longer, but, before the
century ends, they will dominate the region. Meanwhile France (the aggressor in the Napoleonic wars) is cut back to the borders it had in 1790 (when
all this started) and has to pay a bunch of reparations and the costs of the army of occupation
for five years. The government is supposed to be solved by the "Bourbon Restoration" (181430, designed to get rid of the Empire and go back to a king) that puts Louis XVIII* on the
throne. Later, his brother, Charles X* (rules 1824-30) takes over the French throne.
Unfortunately the liberal middle class and commercial interests resent this guy's ultraroyalist
attempts to turn the clock back to the old style government (the ancien regime*). As we move
into 1830, we are smack up against the July Revolution*. In this little fracas Charles X* is
thrown out (he hightails it out of the country) and they put Louis Philippe* (1773-1850,
known as duc d'Orleans) in as king. This time the French make it a constitutional monarchy.
They call him the citizen king*.
Social State of Affairs
Socialism* is a new theory currently springing up as a reaction to all this dislocation and
problems coming out of the Industrial Revolution* and the accompanying Capitalism*.
Socialism* generally covers a theory that is both political and economic. Essentially it
advocates some kind of collective or governmental ownership and management of producing
and distributing goods. A whole bunch of theorists and practitioners spring up and, as usual,
argue among themselves and break up into different factions. We will have to examine some
of these as we go along because the theatre (especially the playwrights) pick up these views
and run with them. At this point in time (around 1830) things are something like this:
In England - Beginning in 1800 a guy named Robert Owen* (1771-1858) pioneered a
cooperative movement, converting old mills into a model industrial town. He is big on selfsufficient agricultural-industrial cooperative communities. His premise is that character is
molded by environment, and this can be improved by living in a society based on cooperation.
He starts up a number of these and spreads it to the United States when he builds New
Harmony, Indiana, in 1823. His son (Robert Dale Owen, 1801-77) follows in daddy's
footsteps as a social reformer, becomes an American, and is the first to publicly advocate
Birth Control (1830).
In France - A similar movement has begun under Charles Fourier* (1772-1837). He claims
social harmony can happen with a society based on the "phalanx* ", which is an economic
unit of 1,620 people who have communal living with the work divided according to who
wants to do what. This idea really takes off and there are a lot of these communities popping
up all over. [See below, 1841.] There is also an idea called positivism* kicking around now.
Auguste Comte * (1798-1857) is writing Positive Philosophy* (1830-42) and inventing the
term sociology* as the method to achieve this positivism* (living in harmony and comfort.)
He influences artists as well as scientists and philosophers. For artists (theatre, too) Comte*'s
ideas leads them to try to make art "scientific." This gets us to realism* and naturalism*.
In Eastern Europe - The Great Powers (Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia and France) are all
concerned with the Eastern Question*. This is, what are they going to do with the European
territory (especially the Balkans, which seem to be a real trouble spot all the time) that is still
controlled by the decaying Ottoman Empire* (later, Turkey). All the powers are busy as little
beavers, intriguing, and often fighting wars, over what they regard as their national interests in
this part of the world. Russia (which is still recovering from being invaded by Napoleon) is
dying to have a nice warm-water port (one that isn't frozen in by the ice most of the year) that
will let them sail into the Mediterranean. Everybody else (especially Britain) keeps doing
their best to prevent this from happening. But, politics being what it is, every nation keeps
shifting their position and being allied with some other country at different times. One of the
prime examples of the Eastern Question* shows up in the Russo-Turkish wars* which have
been going on (off and on) since 1697 and will continue until 1878. These wars enable Russia
to nibble away at the Ottoman Empire*. In the first major Russo-Turkish war* (1768-74) she
got the Crimea and ports on the Black Sea, in the second (1787-92) the southwest Ukraine and
the port of Odessa, then in 1806-12 Bessarabia, and in 1828-29 (which included the Greek
war of independence) the rest of the Caucasus bringing Russia to the height of her power. By
this time the Ottoman Empire* is known as the "Sick Man of Europe." It will give rise to even
more trouble as we go along.
A couple of other social theories that have been hanging around since the Greeks will surface
again, soon, and cause a lot of turmoil. These are anarchism* and communism* (which will
grow out of socialism). We'll pick them up as they enter the mainstream of social reform.
The Theatrical State of Affairs
The Industrial Revolution* and Nationalism usher in Realism* which will be followed rapidly
by a more extreme variant, Naturalism*. In order to understand the start of Realism* we need
to have some common idea of what is meant by this term. It includes both the form* of the
play or production and the content*. This form business includes everything about the way in
which it is done. In realism, this includes an approximation of the speech and manners of
everyday people in everyday life. The production form* tries to make the stage look like the
real world in scenery, lighting, costume and the movement of actors.
In content, the plays are about the social and domestic problems that preoccupy the middle
class audience. Psychological motivation will become the most significant element of the
content. There is some attempt to apply scientific methods of observation, hypothesis and
experimentation to determine what is "real." [This is where Comte*'s ideas come in. See
above.] The hero isn't from the upper class nobility anymore. Heroes and heroines are now
from the upper middle class or the bourgeoisie* [see below], the intellectuals, artists and
merchant class. The eventual Realistic theory (which comes along after the fact, in the 1860's)
insists that art should truthfully show the real, physical world. This means that, since only the
contemporary world can be known directly, artists need to try for impersonal, objective
observation of the world around them, and, that is what they should be representing in their
art.
At about the same time as realism* gets started, a variant, Naturalism, begins. But it's pretty
brief and not a lot of plays are written in this style. Naturalism* carries the attempt to show
the "real" world to an extreme. The whole idea is a defense for "scientific" views and the
notion that environment and heredity, and natural forces like these, are the main determining
factors in peoples lives. This means that Naturalistic protagonists will come from the lowest
classes, the poor and the downtrodden. We will look at this variant in its own place where it
appears for specific reasons.
Although realism* is usually regarded as beginning with the realistic works of Ibsen*, all the
elements are in place on the stage before he writes his masterpieces. Once the realistic style
becomes recognized we begin to hear how "realistic" a whole bunch of earlier playwrights
were (e.g.. Euripides*' work compared with other classical authors). It gradually becomes
clear that realism, romanticism and classicism seem to have been around throughout theatre
history as major ways of expressing ideas on the stage. Later we'll add symbolism to this list.
For now we'll take a look at the beginnings of the realistic movement as it gets started in
France.
1830 - France
In France melodrama and Romanticism have taken audiences away from the traditional
French neoclassic plays but they don't fulfill all the tenets set out for the Romantic movement.
The first steps toward Realism come from these tenets of romanticism, which, according to
Victor Hugo*, called for abandoning the unities, mixing up the genres (comedy and tragedy)
and concentrating on historical settings for the plots. His main emphasis is on showing both
the sublime spiritual, and the grotesque animal nature in order to provide a more truthful
picture of humanity. Realism will emphasize this truthful aspect, and it will put a lot more
attention on that "animal nature" stuff. It will also "mix the genres" so that realistic plays can't
be called tragedies at all. Sometimes they are "serious" plays. Other times they are sort of
comedy.
There are as many as fifty theatres operating at any given time in Paris.
Until the 1880s most of the minor houses specialize in a particular genre (melodrama,
comedy, vaudeville, spectacle drama, and operetta.) Gradually the length of the run of a
particular play increases and this will lead to changes.
The Well-Made Play*
The early move towards realism comes from the street smart playwrights who know the
public and what they want. The first one to make a real splash is Eugene Scribe* (1791-1861),
one of those prolific French playwrights (like many others he often has collaborators). He's
been writing for some time and his earliest plays were flops. In 1815 he has his first success
(Une Nuit de la Garde Nationale*). He goes on to write 374 theatre pieces (one act vaudeville
comedies, full length plays and a lot of librettos for popular composers like Meyerbeer*
(1791-1864) and Verdi* (1813-1901) as well as opera ballets. We'll pick up his best known
works as they show up. The important thing here is the system (which almost amounts to a
writing factory) that he develops for how to write plays. By this time, 1830, his plays are well
known. French drama in general, and Scribe*'s plays in particular, are being translated into
English and show up in America as well as England. Since there isn't any international
copyright yet, a lot of mediocre English playwrights pretend they wrote the plays they
translate.
In doing all this writing, Scribe* comes up with a formula for writing successful plays based
on all the plot construction tricks that have been successful throughout theatre history. This
formula will come to be called the well-made play*. It is a commercially successful pattern of
construction that usually contains at least a smattering of a moral or thesis. Well-made plays
that are heavy on the moral business are called social plays*, problem plays* or thesis plays*.
[This is where that socialism* business we looked at above becomes important.]
The well-made play* goes like this:
1- The play is really the last part of a long story, most of which has already
happened before the curtain goes up. Technically they call this a "late point of
attack." This means the play has to start with a lot of exposition* (telling you
what happened before now). The real action of the play can't start until the
audience knows this exposition.
2- The plot is based on a secret the audience gets to know about, but certain
characters in the play don't until near the end of the play. Either the results of
the secret or the revelation of the secret comes in the climactic* (or climax)
scene. This climax includes rewarding the good, sympathetic character, who's
been suffering all kinds of problems throughout the play, and who the audience
has come to love. It also reveals or unmasks the bad character(s).
3- There is also a central misunderstanding which may or may not be
connected with the secret. Like the secret, the audience knows about it, but
some of the characters don't. This misunderstanding (a quidproquo*,
"something for something") involves two or more characters interpreting a
word or a situation in different ways. While this can be a serious thing, it is
usually a very comic trick. The important thing is that all the characters assume
their own interpretations are the same as everybody elses, while they are
obviously (to the audience) very different.
4- The plot proceeds in a pattern of intense action and suspense. There are lots
of contrived entrances, exits, letters and other devices of that sort, which keep
the action moving and suspense high.
5- There's a roller coaster of ups and downs in the hero's (or heroine's) fortunes
as a result of conflict* with his/her adversary.
6- The hero's biggest down-turn (peripeteia*) takes place in what is called the
obligatory* scene (the scene a faire*). This scene is the critical one in the play.
It includes both the lowest and highest point in the hero's fortunes, or
adventures, because it is in this scene that the secret is revealed to the
opposition.
7- The overall plot pattern (the ups and downs, etc.) are reproduced in the
individual acts.
There are several features of the well-made play* that make it the beginning of
realism*. The plot devices have been around since theatre began, but Scribe*
adds probability, logic and common sense. The plots are just as contrived as
earlier plays but they are plausible and believable. The reversals
(denouements)* at the end aren't just tacked on. They grow out of the events in
the plot. The exposition* (telling what happened before the play starts) is very
precise and careful, telling just as much as the audience needs to know. This
particular formula for writing successful plays turns out to be just the right
form for the social content that is clamoring to be expressed.
Social Turmoil - 1831-48
Various things are brewing in society which will soon break out in social action. The first is
the work of a young English naturalist named Charles Darwin* (1809-82) who departs this
year (1831-36) aboard the H.M.S. Beagle on a world voyage. What he discovers in his
investigations will lead to his theory of organic evolution*. The idea has been kicking around
since 1801 when a French naturalist, Jean Lamarck* (1744-1829), came up with his own
evolutionary theories (and founded invertebrate paleontology). Lamarck's theories paved the
way for Darwin and Wallace (Alfred Russel Wallace*, 1823-1913, doing comparative biology
in the East Indies).
The second thing brewing is a whole batch of reactions to the rise of capitalism* (supply and
demand, private ownership of production, that sort of stuff). The Industrial Revolution* has
created modern capitalism* and sent it booming. The major social by-product of this busy
capitalism* is what is usually referred to as the "exploitation of labor," which means that all
those people who are working their tails off in the factories are not much better off than their
agricultural counterparts, the serfs and slaves. Socialism* is the first reaction (see above) and
it is rapidly spinning off separate movements. These will range from the idealistic
Trancendentalism* (influenced by the idealist German philosophers, especially Kant*),
through Christian Socialism* (starts mainly in Great Britain and the U.S.), to the workeroriented communism* and anarchism* (those who want to abolish all government). We will
be meeting these very soon.
While social turmoil is brewing in Europe, the United States is busy expanding and growing.
Andrew Jackson* is the seventh president (in office 1829-37), regarded as the incarnation of
frontier democracy. There are now 24 states, a vast region acquired in the Louisiana
Purchase*, all that Northwest Territory* (explored by Lewis and Clark* in 1803-6) and lots of
land in the Southwest (claimed by Spain) that is disputed. South of the Rio Grande River
Santa Anna* (1794-1876) has been ruling Mexico* since 1828 and is busy beating the
Spanish in 1829. The first signs of the effects of the Industrial Revolution on workers in
America shows up in the 1830s with the beginning of the development of labor unions.
1830 - This year in London a charming actress of light burlesque, Mme Vestris*, takes over
the management of the Olympic Theatre*. She will go on to run one of the best managements.
She makes major contributions toward realistic productions. She insists on historically
accurate costumes, introduces real properties (instead of the customary fakes), and the box set
(see below, 1832.)
American Theatre
1831 - In America theatre is doing very well. An English light comedian named James H.
Caldwell* (1793-1863) who came over in 1816, now dominates the theatre in the Mississippi
valley. He controls theatres up and down the river and inland, like Nashville. He brings
"stars" west to tour his theatres.
Another American theatrical invention starts up this year, the river boat theatre. A fellow
called William Chapman* (1764-1839), another English actor come west, outfits a flatboat to
give performances at landings from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. It will take another five years
to work up to getting a steamboat to tow them back up stream. As the population swells in the
United States, the demand for entertainment does too. There are now more than twenty
resident theatrical troupes and who knows how many traveling groups. New York has four
theatres now and they keep adding more. Each one has audience seating for between two and
three thousand. Philadelphia has three theatres and Boston at least two, sometimes three.
More and more actors are touring as "stars," to perform with local companies. This lowers the
quality of the productions since the "stars" often arrive too late for much rehearsal and insist
on doing plays that suit them best. These "stars" demand ridiculous salaries and the local
company doesn't make very much money for themselves.
The period of "Jacksonian democracy" is beginning and audiences are looking for native
entertainment fit for the common man. We find lots of animal acts, child stars and speciality
acts put on as entr'acte* (between the acts). The plays are still mostly imports with American
dramatists making up only about ten percent of the authors. However, the American plays are
introducing two important native types as characters, the Indian and the Yankee. The Indian is
a sympathetic character, the romantic "noble savage." The Yankee is a comic, or "specialty,"
part. He is a major figure in American plays at this time. The Yankee is the American
common man, apparently simple and naive, but, underneath, full of democratic principles and
not about to put up with pretense or hypocrisy. A third character type, also a specialty role, is
the Afro-American. Popularized by Thomas D. Rice* (1808-60) with his "Jim Crow*" song
and dance around 1828, there are a growing number of imitators.
These white performers in black-face shouldn't be confused with Afro-American performers,
An Afro-American troupe was put together by James Brown* back in 1821 and had a couple
successful years until white rowdies gave them too much trouble. Brown* wrote the first
known American play by an Afro-American author, King Shotaway* (about an insurrection
on St. Vincent Island.) This company gave a start to a celebrated actor, Ira Aldridge* (180467), who, because of his race, found a more sympathetic reception in London. He appears
there as Othello*. Later (1863), he will become a naturalized British citizen. He will go on to
great European fame.
Currently, the biggest, native-born, American star is Edwin Forrest* (1806-72) who acted a
lot around the frontier. He had made his New York debut in 1826 and two years later was
regarded as the leading American actor. He is a big guy with a really strong voice and his
style of acting is called "heroic," or physical. This comes to be regarded as the "American"
acting style in contrast to the more restrained (and convincing) English style.
1831 A Russian poet and author, A. S. Pushkin* (1799-1837), comes out with a verse drama,
Boris Godunov* which Moussorgsky* (1839-91) turns into an opera (produced in 1874).
Some of his other works will be made into operas by Tchaikovsky* (1840-93).
Realistic Elements In Production
1832 - Mme Vestris* introduces the first box-set* on the English stage, complete with ceiling.
This is a big departure from the usual perspective scene painted on the back drop. There are
three real walls, (made by a continuous series of flats joined together), practical doors and
windows (instead of having the actors zip in and out of the old wings), and thickness pieces to
make everything look real and solid. The play this is used in is W. B. Bernard*'s The
Conquering Game*, produced at the Olympic Theatre*.
1832 In France, George Sand* (the pen name of Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin, baronne
Dudevant, 1804-76) is professionally busy publishing novels expressing her feminist views.
This year it is Indiana*. She writes over 80 novels, dresses like a man to protest the unequal
treatment of women, is personally busy having affairs with Alfred de Musset* and Chopin*
while being a single (divorced) mother and supporting her two children by her pen.
In the art of ballet* the romantic period begins this year with La Sylphide*, filled with
brilliant choreography and emphasizing the beauty and virtuosity of the leading female dancer
(prima ballerina). Later in the century, the pressure of naturalism in the theatre will bring a
decline to the ballet.
1833 Santa Anna*, having beaten the Spanish, gets to be president of Mexico* this year, but
he is about to have problems with the Americans who have settled in Texas.
In Great Britain, a fellow who has a great influence on the current literary world, Thomas
Carlyle* (1795-1881) is busy being a critic of materialism in his book Sartor Resartus*.
1833 - Around this year the "Jim Crow" song and dance business is enlarged into Ethiopian
Operas* by Rice* (see above). This entertainment form will keep growing.
1835 - In America, a third theatre opens in New Orleans, the St. Charles Theatre *. It is
currently the snazziest theatre in the country, with the largest stage (90 by 95 feet). Gas
lighting is now the in thing.
1835 The French writer Honore de Balzac* (1799-1850) comes out with one of the stories,
Pere Goriot, that are included in his twenty-year work, The Human Comedy*.
1836 This year Transcendentalism* as a literary movement begins to flourish (1836-60) in
New England. It is centered in Concord, MA with Ralph Waldo Emerson* (1803-82) stating
the movements main principles in Nature. Margaret Fuller* (1810-50, American critic and
social reformer) and Henry David Thoreau* (1817-62, social critic, naturalist and author) are
part of this movement. Transcendentalism* is an optimistic philosophy that emphasizes
individualism, self-reliance and the rejection of traditional authority (especially Calvinist
orthodoxy and Unitarian rationalism).
In the United States Arkansas is admitted as the 25th state. Down in the Southwest a bunch of
Texas rebels declare Texas independent from everybody. They defeat and capture Santa
Anna*, but he quickly regains his Mexican power. This won't be the end of the dispute.
In Great Britain the novelist Charles Dickens* (1812-70) is just getting started with the
publication of his early sketches of London life, Sketches by Boz*. Late this year (1836-7) he
becomes famous with the publication of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club*.
1836 - The Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol* (1809-52) has been writing a number of things,
but this year he comes out with a delightfully satirical play on provincial and bureaucratic
folly, The Inspector General*.
1837 - In America this year a new native-born actress is beginning work at the Park Theatre*
in New York. She is Charlotte Cushman* (1816-76.) There she will learn her craft. Later she
will be known as the finest tragic actress in the English-speaking world. We'll follow her
career.
The English poet, Robert Browning*, has his first play produced, a tragedy, Strafford*. He
will be better remembered for Pippa Passes*.
1837 In Great Britain Victoria* (1819-1901) succeeds William IV* as Queen of Great Britain
and Ireland. She will rule 1837-1901, the longest reign in English history, and become
Empress of India.
In the United States, Martin Van Buren* (1782-1862) takes over as the 8th president (183741). Michigan is admitted as the 26th state this year. There will be a lot of economic problems
next year.
The master of American fiction, Nathaniel Hawthorne* (1804-64), produces his Twice-Told
Tales*.
1838 Dickens comes out with Oliver Twist*.
By this time Richard Wagner* (1813-83) is writing his operas. This year he does Rienzi*.
This German composer also writes his own librettos and brings the musical and dramatic
expression of German romanticism to its height. He embodies all the major characteristics of
the romanticists, passionate nationalism, a return to native folklore for his stories (German
mythology, in this case) and a fusion of music and text. He calls his works "Music-dramas".
Later we will have some theatrical design theories come out of productions of his works.
1838 - This year Mme Vestris* (1797-1856) tours to America and brings historically correct
costumes, real props and a box-set* to the attention of the theatres here.
The English novelist and playwright, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton* (1803-73), brings out
his most successful play, The Lady of Lyons*. It's romantic and sentimental, but it will
remain popular for many years.
1840's - In America gas lighting is now the way to go in theatres as gas sources become
dependable. This makes for much more flexible and spectacular lighting since the gas flow
can be controlled through what are called "gas tables" where each gas jet can be turned up and
down by one operator. For the next forty years this system will be refined and improved until
electricity begins to be available.
1840 - One of Scribe*'s best known plays, A Glass of Water*, comes out this year.
Social Reform Is Explored
1840 One of those social reformers, a Frenchman named Louis Blanc* (1811-82), publishes
his Organization of Work*. In this influential work he outlines an ideal social order based on
the notion "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." He claims we
should start with a system of "social workshops" controlled by the workers themselves. Some
of his ideas will be picked up later and made a part of communism*.
In America, James Fenimore Cooper* (1789-1851) is still writing. This year he comes out
with The Pathfinder* and next year he will publish The Deerslayer*.
An Italian composer, Gaetano Donizetti*, produces a delightful comic opera, The Daughter of
the Regiment*.
In Great Britain, Queen Victoria* marries her first cousin, Prince Albert*. They will have nine
children who will marry and link the British royal house with the rulers of Russia, Germany,
Greece, Denmark and Romania.
1840s The medical establishment finally begins to use general anesthesia in surgical
procedures. This makes surgery go much easier and better.
1841 William Henry Harrison* (1773-1841) comes in as the 9th President of the United
States, but he dies after only a month in office. John Tyler takes over the presidency as the
first Vice President to succeed to that office. Nobody is very happy with him.
This year one of those Fourierist (see above in Introduction) cooperative living experiments
starts up at Brook Farm*. Its based on shared manual labor and the ideas of
Transcendentalism* (a movement in literature that flourishes in New England 1836-60 and
emphasizes individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of traditional authority.) Ralph Waldo
Emerson*, Margaret Fuller*, Horace Greeley* and Nathaniel Hawthorne* are members or
visit here. Its ideas are best expressed in Emerson*'s essays and Henry David Thoreau*'s
(1817-62) Walden, or a Life in the Woods* (1854).
1841 - The box-set* is brought to perfection in Mme Vestris*' production of Dion
Boucicault*'s (1820-90) London Assurance* at Covent Garden*. This year Boucicault*
begins acting under his own name because of the success of this play. He is an Irish actor,
director, playwright and theatre manager who first appeared as an actor in 1838. This play
will be one of the most popular of the rest of the century. We will hear more about him and
some of the 250 plays he will write later.
Political Philosophy Moves On
1841 Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach* (1804-72), a German philosopher, launches his best known
work, The Essence of Christianity*. This guy is busy rejecting idealism for materialism* and
his works influence another fellow named Karl Marx* to develop a view of things called
dialectical materialism*. [more about all this as we go along.]
Meanwhile the Europeans are busy exploring the interior of Africa. This year a Scottish
explorer, David Livingstone* (1813-73), goes off as a medical missionary into the wilds of
Botswana. He'll go on to find [that is the conventional way of saying that the white European
is discovering for the first time a number of things well known to the native Africans] a lot of
spots there [like the Kalahari desert, the Victoria Falls, that sort of thing].
1842 This year Karl Marx* begins his editorship of a radical paper (the Rheinische Zeitung).
It'll be suppressed next year. He is a German social philosopher who has studied both law and
philosophy and has some very definite ideas about how society ought to work. Along with
Darwin, his works will have the greatest influence on what happens in the world for the next
hundred and fifty years. This is why we will keep up with these two guys. At the moment
Marx* is taking in the ideas of Feuerbach* (see above) and Moses Hess* (1812-75) who
introduces him (Marx) to the study of social and economic problems (of which there are a lot
around just now).
In England Shaftesbury* (Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th earl of Shaftesbury, 1801-85) is busy
passing laws to help with the terrible conditions of workers and the poor. This year he gets a
law limiting child labor.
Dickens* does an American lecture tour and goes back to Great Britain with a very dim view
of the U.S. which he writes up in American Notes*.
The Russian, Gogol*, comes out with his novel, Dead Souls*.
1843 This year in Great Britain, William Wordsworth* (1770-1850), the romantic nature poet,
is named poet laureate. Also, Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol* and spends some of his
time managing amateur theatricals.
1843- A little Austrian monk, Gregor Johann Mendel* (1822-84) is busy [between now and
1868] analyzing how peas reproduce. This may sound pretty obscure and esoteric, but his
findings will provide the basis for genetics.
1843 - In America, a guy named Dan Emmett* (1815-1904) builds on those Ethiopian
Operas* (see above) and comes up with a full-length entertainment, the "Virginia Minstrels."
Also, around this time, another American character type shows up. This is the "city boy", a
good-natured city roughneck.
In Great Britain, the Theatre Regulation Act* puts an end to the old monopoly of the Patent
theatres. Now new theatres can open. It will take a while for this to make a difference.
1844 - In America the hit play is the melodrama The Drunkard, [a still popular item] by
William H. Smith* (1806-72). He is the stage manager of the troupe at the Boston Museum*.
1844 This is the year when Marx* meets Engels* in Paris. They begin a life-long
collaboration. Friedrich Engels* (1820-95), who has been managing a factory in England,
comes out this year with his first major work, The Condition of the Working Class in
England* (it'll be published next year). Engels* is a German social philosopher and a
revolutionary. These two guys will begin working on other works immediately.
Meanwhile one of the first important communication devices, the telegraph*, is being put
together. Several guys have been working on this, but this year Samuel Morse* (1791-1872)
demonstrates his version to Congress. He gets associated with the system and it starts being
put into use (especially as the railroads are built, they raise telegraph lines along side).
The Mexican War* and Nationalism
1845 One of the few important things President Tyler does (before he moves out of office this
year and the 11th President, James Knox Polk* moves in) is to annex the independent Texas.
Boy, does Santa Anna* object to this. It launches the Mexican War* (with the Alamo and all
that). Actually the United States is dying to get their hands on California (which Mexico
claims) so this is a good excuse. President Polk has a campaign pledge to get control of
California and take Oregon territory from Britain (they settle on the 49th parallel as the
northern boundary between the U.S. and Canada). The Mexican War* will run from 1846-48.
Polk* is very successful in fulfilling his campaign pledges in this war.
Meanwhile, Florida is admitted to the union as the 27th state.
Later in the year, in December, Texas is admitted as the 28th state, even though they are still
fighting over it there.
In England, Shaftesbury* gets a law providing care for the insane. This year Margaret Fuller*
publishes her feminist views in Woman in the Nineteenth Century*. She's the first literary
critic of the New York Tribune. She will marry an Italian and write about the revolution for
her paper (see below 1848-49).
Elizabeth Barrett* (1806-61 originally Elizabeth Moulton, then her father took the name of
Barrett, later she marries Browning) publishes some poems.
1845 - One of the most enduring and popular American plays shows up this year. Fashion*,
written by Anna Cora Mowatt (1819-70), is a terrific spoof of New York city manners.
The English actor-manager, Charles Kean* (1811-1868) begins directing, then touring, and
now he is on his third tour with the most detailed productions yet seen in North America. This
success will encourage him to go back home and do even better productions.
1846 - This year in America the Minstrel Show* is given its definitive form by E. P. Christy*
(1815-62). This is a two-part show in which the first part uses the Interlocutor* (master of
ceremonies) and two stand-up comedians Tambo and Bones) to toss jokes around with "end"
men (who stand at the ends of a semicircle of the group). These joke sessions trade off with
musical numbers. The second part of the show is the olio*, which is a series of speciality acts
and songs. This will grow in popularity and reach its peak between 1850 and 1890.
1846 Iowa comes into the union as the 29th state.
This year the first publication comes out by the Bronte sisters, Charlotte* (1816-55), Emily
Jane* (1818-48) and Anne* (1820-49). It is a collection of their poems, published under the
pen names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.
Another author, the American, Herman Melville* (1819-91), writes Typee* this year. Next
year he will write Omoo*.
Still a third author, this time a Russian, Feodor Dostoyevsky* (1821-81, whose name is also
spelled two or three other ways, remember the Russian alphabet is not the one we use)
publishes his first novel, Poor Folk* and begins to earn a reputation.
1846-7 Economic conditions in France are terrible. There is a widespread economic crisis and
the condition of the working class is getting even worse than it was. All over Europe there are
really bad crop failures, political repression, and a rising tide of nationalism*.
Since in this period everybody is preoccupied with it, we'll take a moment to try to understand
what is meant here by nationalism*. Basically it's a political philosophy where the welfare of
the nation (state) is the most important thing. It is also a state of mind held by people who
share a common history, religion, language, or ethnic background. This is especially
important when there is a political need for action and nationalism* becomes a group state of
mind where patriotism and loyalty to the country are looked on as each individual's primary
duty. Ever since the French Revolution (1789) this nationalism* business has (and will)
provided the glue that enables countries to interact with each other in a fairly reasonable way.
It also leads to some terrifically excessive militarism and Imperialism (like Napoleon, and the
British Empire, for examples). Nationalism* will grow as a powerful force in world politics.
1847 - This year in Russia Alexander Ostrovshy* (1823-86) comes out with his first play. He
will go on to write about 34 more. His works mark the beginning of realism in Russia. He
concentrates on characters, their relationships and how it is affected by the environment they
are in.
1847 In England, Shaftesbury produces another law limiting the work day and promotes
building model tenements to house workers.
In the U.S. canning food in glass and tin is replaced by tin-plated steel cans. This is a big
improvement and the basis of the modern industry.
This year the novels of the Bronte sisters are published: Charlotte, Jane Eyre*; Emily Jane*,
Wuthering Heights*; and Anne*, Agnes Grey*. Their careers will be very short (tuberculosis
takes Anne and Emily) but brilliant.
1847- This period is a landmark for women when Semmelweis* (Ignaz Philipp, 49 1818-65),
a Hungarian obstetrician, proves that child-bed (puerperal) fever is contagious. (All those
doctors running around from one birthing mother to another, without even washing their
hands or their instruments, have been killing their patients right and left). Now Semmelweis*
becomes the pioneer of antisepsis (getting rid of germs) in obstetrics.
The 1848 Revolutions and Nationalism
1848 In France we have the February Revolution*. Lots of street fighting and government
troops firing on demonstrators sets it off. There is a provisional government (made up of a lot
of those social reformers like Blanc*) which overthrows the monarchy of Louis Philippe* and
establishes the Second Republic*. The government is headed briefly by the romantic poet,
novelist and statesman, Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine*. It won't be very successful and
in June the workers will revolt again. Eventually they hammer out a constitution. This enables
Louis Napoleon* (1808-87, nephew of the great man) to come home, run for president and get
the job. More about him later. Meanwhile Blanc* has been caught running a workers revolt
and he runs off to England.
The French February Revolution* sets off a rash of revolutionary explosions (fueled by
nationalism*) all over Europe. These revolutions of 1848 include some liberal revolutions in
the German States (remember the German Confederation*?) which brings in the Frankfurt
Parliament that favors German unification. In the Hapsburg empire (see above) the
revolutionaries are looking for more autonomy. They don't get it. In Italy they are trying to get
rid of the Hapsburgs. They don't get that either. In almost all cases the old orders get control
back where they want it. In Italy there is a period of cultural nationalism and political activism
called Risorgimento* which will lead to Italian unification. A leader in this movement in the
current revolution is Giuseppe Mazzini* who, next year, takes part in the Roman Republic.
1848 This is the year Engels* (see above 1844) and Marx* come out with their Communist
Manifesto*. Among other things it picks up on Blanc's* ideas (see above 1840). This
Manifesto, and their later works, part company with socialist appeals to natural rights to
justify social reform. Instead they come up with the view that the laws of history are bound to
lead to the triumph of the working class. This will really get picked up in a big way by
generations of revolutionaries as the way to go. After the revolutionary failures (of 1848),
Engels* and Marx* (who is exiled) settle down in London to study and write.
In America the Mexican War ends with a treaty that gives the U.S. two fifths of Mexico's
territory and $15 million, besides. The southern border is now the Rio Grande River,
California is a U.S. territory which is handy because gold is discovered in California (at
Sutter's Mill on the Sacramento River). The Gold Rush* is on and over 40,000 prospectors
will pour into California in the next two years. This will really help economic growth out
there.
Wisconsin enters the union as the 30th state.
In Great Britain, William Makepeace Thackeray* (1811-63), the English satirist and novelist,
comes out with Vanity Fair*.
1848 - By this time the operetta* emerges as a distinct form. It's a fun combination of light
pleasant songs, spoken dialogue, fantasy, buffoonery parodying and satirizing just about
everything.
In Great Britain, Queen Victoria* revives the govermental post of Master of Revels* and
appoints Charles Kean* to this post. He will supply the queen with all kinds of entertainment
at Windsor Castle and she (and her court, of course) will come to see shows at his theatre
which will open in 1850 (see below). This is a real boost for English theatre.
1849 Zachary Taylor* comes in as the 12th President of the U.S. This year that most
influential figure in American thought and literature, Thoreau *, comes out with his powerful
social criticism, Civil Disobedience*. [This work will continue to influence a number of
social movements and such later leaders as Gandhi* and Martin Luther King*.]
Sardinia (that island west of Italy) is ruled this year by Victor Emanuel II* (1820-78). He will
get his country involved in the Risorgimento* (see above 1848) struggles to unite Italy. He
will do it soon (see 1861).
In Great Britain, Geroge Eliot* (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, 1819-80), launches her
famous novel, Silas Marner*.
In 1849, Scribe* (and a collaborator, Legouve, who will later write Scribe's biography) comes
out with his most successful and well remembered play, Adrienne Lecouvreur*. It's a
sensation and will influence the next author's first play. It has the commercial advantage of
having Rachel*, the rising star of the French stage, acting the leading role.
Rachel* (1820-58) has been working in the Comedie-Francaise* in classical parts. She really
triumphs in these (especially as Racine's Phaedre*), and with particular success on tour in
Russia, London (1841), and America (1855). She will become known as one of the finest
tragediennes of the French stage. This helps make Adrienne Lecouvreur* a success, and her
role in this play will remain as one of the choice roles for actresses.
The Social Play
1849
There are two French playwrights who take the next step toward realism* by developing the
content* of social problems in the form of the well-made play*. The characters in Scribe*'s
plays are not very fully developed. They serve the plot. The next step is taken by authors who
are concerned with psychological insights into why characters do what they do. The social
forces that shape the characters actions are the first target of these authors. In order to reach
the popular audience the social messages are sugar-coated as sheer entertainment and the
social problems tend to be sexual.
Since subject matter based on the "S" word hasn't been used on the stage, the new plays are
real shockers. Adultery, free love and prostitution, especially when found hidden by hypocrisy
and deceit in outwardly respectable society, are favorite subjects. The main characters are
either courtesans* or demimondaine*. These terms need a little explanation since they are
peculiar to European high society.
Essentially a courtesans* is a fashionable kept woman who has the education and refinement
of a well-born lady. Since there is no respectable way in which upper class women can
support themselves, many aristocratic but poor widows and daughters of officers killed in the
Napoleonic wars turn to amorous entaglements and what are called "doubtful" enterprises.
These women are intelligent and have great capacity for delicacy and devotion which enable
them to bring their brilliant social gifts to benefit the men who support them financially. They
serve best as social companions rather than mere sexual toys. A courtesan seems to differ
from a demimondaine* in having more freedom to associate with a number of admirers and
having a higher social status. A demimondaine* is basically a kept woman on the fringes of
respectable society.
1849 - Emile Augier* (1820-89) comes out with Gabrielle* attacking adultery. He tends to be
more realistic than his contemporaries, showing the prostitutes and courtesans as they really
are. He has a more angry reception (than Dumas fils*) from audiences who prefer a touch of
romanticism on their social lessons. We will take note of some of his better known works as
they come out.
Alexander Dumas fils* (1824-95), the illegitimate son of the romantic writer Alexander
Dumas, pere*, is rapidly moving from the romantic to the realistic. In 1847 he had written a
novel, La Dame aux Camelias*. Later, in 1849, he turns the novel into a play with the same
title. For two and a half years the French censors rant and rave over whether or not to let the
play go on the stage. It had been OK to have plays and operas about courtesans when they
were treated romantically, that way they didn't seem very real. But, treating the subject of a
courtesan frankly, in this new realistic style where characters talked and moved like real
people - Well! - it's downright immoral!
Enter political expediency. The first minister of France (the Duc de Morny) under Louis
Napoleon* has a notion that such a controversial play could be a terrific help in distracting the
public's attention from the current political dirty tricks that are causing a lot of agitation. He
(the Duc de Morny*) gives the production his full support.
1850 The United States welcomes California as the 31st state this year. However, there is
trouble brewing over the question of slavery. This year the government comes up with the
Compromise of 1850* which tries to fix how new states stand in relation to the slavery
question. The Compromise doesn't work and things are going down hill. It doesn't help
anything that President Taylor* dies this year and Millard Fillmore * (1800-74) becomes the
13th president. Daniel Webster* (1782-1852) becomes his Secretary of State, but even this
doesn't help.
By this time the Industrial Revolution is pretty much accomplished in England. It's about ten
years into it in France and just beginning in Germany. America will be a little late getting into
it (because of the up coming Civil War), but when they get rolling it will be awesome.
Meanwhile, Hawthorne* is publishing his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter*
This year Elizabeth Barrett Browning* (she married in 1846) comes out with her Sonnets
from the Portuguese*. Her husband, Robert Browning*, is busy writing poetry too. He is a
master of the dramatic monologue.
1850 - This year, up in Christiania, Norway, a very important playwright, Henrik Ibsen*
(1828-1906) publishes his first drama, Catilina*. Norway is busy trying to establish a national
identity and break the last political ties holding it to Denmark. This nationalistic climate will
stimulate Ibsen* to write historical and nationalistically romantic plays, mainly in verse, for
this, his earliest period. We will take a closer look at him and his plays in the next chapter.
For now we need to pick up the main events in his education as a playwright.
1850 - In England the most popular kind of theatre is burlesque-extravaganza* (lots of low
comedy, broad take-offs on popular plays, operas, myths and fairy-tales). These will have a
twenty year run as top entertainment until the comic operas (see 1870s) begin to take their
audience away.
The actor-manager, Charles Kean*, decides to manage a theatre and leases the Princess
Theatre* in London. It will now begin a period of glory under Kean*'s management, bringing
fashionable audiences back to the theatre. He begins his performances with a short curtain
raiser (to help with the problem of fashionably late arrivals streaming in). This will become
the way to go for regular plays. He also starts taking out all that incidental music and variety
acts move, almost entirely, to the music halls. His repertory of plays include a number of
fairly high quality melodramas, like those by Boucicault*. He will develop antiquarianism to
a fare-thee-well (see 1852).
1850 - In America the resident stock company is the main theatrical organization for the next
twenty years. The country is so big that each center of population has its own theatre groups,
although "stars" come to play with these companies from time to time.
1851 - This year An Italian Straw Hat* (also variously called: Un Chapeau de paill d'Italie,
The Wedding Guest, Haste to the Wedding and Horse Eats Hat) is a big success. It is written
by Eugene Labiche* (1815-88) who raises French farce to a new height with more than 150
light comedies between 1831-77.
Ibsen* (up in Norway) is invited by the violinist and patriot, Ole Bull (1810-80) to work as
"dramatic author" at the new Norwegian Theatre* at Bergen, Norway. The purpose of the new
theatre is to get out from under the Danish cultural influence and do plays by, for and with
Norwegians. Ibsen* will stay here through 1857, writing and producing five of his own plays
and helping out with 145 productions. He is learning by doing.
1851 The political dirty tricks in France turn into a coup in December as Louis Napoleon*,
supported by powerful conservatives, dissolves the legislative assembly. He starts whipping
out a new constitution.
In Australia there is a big Gold Rush* which will last into 1853. This will stimulate
immigration and settling the land down under.
Hawthorne* comes out with The House of Seven Gables*.
Italy is still struggling to become united, led by Gieseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), a one-time
republican who is now throwing his support behind Victor Emanuel II*, the king of Sardinia.
The American, Herman Melville*, comes out with his most famous work, Moby Dick*.
Nobody thinks much of his work now, but he will be rediscovered in 1920 and this work will
come to be regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written.
This year the Italian, Giuseppe Verdi* comes out with his dramatic and melodic opera,
Rigoletto*.
The Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt* (1811-86) has been teaching most of the major
pianists of the next generation as well as composing this year six Paganini Etudes (other
works include concertos, 20 Hungarian Rhapsodies, sonatas and symphonic poems).
This year Uncle Tom's Cabin* by Harriet Beecher Stowe* 1811-96) comes out. This will fan
the flames of antislavery and provide the theatre with a real favorite piece (see Below 1852).
1852 - In Great Britain, Charles Kean* puts on a production of Shakespeare*'s King John*
with every detail of costume, set and props researched and reproduced with antiquarian care
and attention, including a list for the audience of sources he has consulted. Unfortunately he
couldn't stop his leading actress (his wife, Ellen Tree*, 1806-80) from wearing hooped skirts
under her costumes. He helps establish the director as the primary artist in the theatre.
1852 - Finally, this year, Alexander Dumas fils*' La Dame aux Camelias* is allowed to go on
stage at the Theatre du Vaudevill* in Paris. This work will come to be known in English as
Camille* and it doesn't make as much use of the techniques of the well-made play* as later
authors will. Dumas* does, however, make a big step in the direction of a really good realistic
play. Camille* will have the biggest effect on English and American realistic social drama of
any nineteenth-century French play. The actors (Eugenie Doche and Charles Fechter) who
play the leading roles give sensitive, realistic portrayals which helps the impact of the play.
The first two acts of the play are based on Dumas' personal experiences with a well-known
Parisian courtesan (Marie Duplessis) who was adored by many of the most illustrious
personages of her day. Their love affair lasted two years (1844-46) until shortly before her
death. The last three acts are strongly affected by Dumas* knowledge of the contemporary
stage, especially Scribe*'s Adrienne Lecouvreur*.
1852 - In America we can see the beginning of the long run which will gradually change the
theatre production system. This year George L. Aiken*'s (1830-76) Uncle Tom's Cabin*
(From the novel by H. B. Stowe*) begins a run of 300 consecutive performances. This is not
typical, since the average run of a regular play is between 14 and 40 performances. However,
Uncle Tom's Cabin* will be the most popular play of the period and be adapted by a lot of
other authors.
Odds and Ends
1852 In November a French plebiscite overwhelmingly supports the establishment of the

Second Empire* (or the Third, if you think Napoleon had two) and Louis Napoleon* becomes
Napoleon III*.
1853 Franklin Pierce* (1804-69) becomes the 14th president of the United States. He's best
known for the Gadsden Purchase*, adding a strip of land, bought from Mexico, near the Rio
Grande River. It's a useful hunk of real estate since it is the best place to build a railroad
across the southern territory.
From 1853 through 1874 Wagner* is doing his masterwork, Der Ring des Nibelungen*, a
tetralogy that most completely embodies his aesthetic principles.
1853-56 turns out to be the Crimean War*. This is another piece of the Eastern Question*
[remember, from the introduction, the Russo-Turkish wars*? Russia, in the first one (176874) got the Crimea and ports on the Black Sea, in the second (1787-92) the southwest Ukraine
and the port of Odessa] It starts out between Turkey and Russia but soon England, France and
Sardinia will join in.
1853 - In Paris there is a theatre man, Adolphe Montigny* (1805-80), who gets the job of
director of the Theatre du Gymnase* (the third most important theatre in Paris, after the
Comedie-Francaise* and the Odeon*). This is the theatre where all the realistic playwrights'
work starts out. Montigny* seems to be the first Frenchman to really work at the art of
directing. He gradually introduces realistic furniture, props, etc. into the plays at his theatre.
DELSARTE
Also in Paris is a world famous acting teacher, Francois Delsarte (1811-71). He trys to
approach acting "scientifically" by looking for the "laws" of expression. He will have some
support from naturalists (like Darwin* ) who point out (with drawings and later, photographs)
the similarity in the expressions of primates and humans in emotional states like anger, fear,
joy, etc. He analyses emotions and ideas in terms of how they are expressed. He works out an
elaborate scheme to show how each part of the body should be used to express attitudes,
emotions and ideas. He becomes world famous and his students will be teaching his "method"
all over the world. It apparently works extremely well when first taught, but it tends to
become mechanical (somewhere down the line of students) and later it will get a reputation
for purely technical and mechanical repetition.
1854 In the United States they try the Kansas-Nebraska Act* to address the slave-state freestate problem. This one doesn't solve anything either and the State's Rights doctrine (based on
the 10th amendment) is being used to mobilize the pro-slavery southern states. In the south
the plantation system for agriculture and the concomitant use of slaves to supply the
enormous work force needed sets this region apart from other states.
In that Crimean War* (down in the Black Sea region) the Russian port of Sevastopol* is
under seige for 349 days. The medical care of the English troops is so bad that Florence
Nightingale* (1820-1910) organizes a bunch of 38 women nurses and sets off to the Crimea
to make a name for herself. [This establishes women in nursing and she is the first woman to
get the British Order of Merit.]
In 1855 the term demimondaine* is retired in favor of the title of this year's Dumas*' play Le
Demi-Monde* which is regarded as Dumas*' best work.
This year Augier* also comes out with a play, Olympe's Marriage*, designed as a reply to
Dumas*' Camille*, and showing what might happen if a courtesan* married. Both plays
become popular favorites.
1856 In the United States this is the year of the infamous Dred Scott Case. This is a case
before the Supreme Court involving the status of slavery in the federal territories. The upshot
of the case is a decision that Afro-Americans have no rights as citizens and no standing in
court. This makes everybody fighting mad and fuels the growing division among the states.
The abolitionists* believe slavery is an unmitigated evil. Southern plantation owners regard
slavery as an economic necessity and a natural social state protected under the states rights
doctrine.
1856 - American theatre is richer for an English actress, Laura Keene (?-1873), who, after
touring here and in Australia, has settled here. She is the first woman here to become a theatre
manager. This year Laura Keene* opens her own theatre in New York (Laura Keene's
Varieties, after she moves on it will be known as the second Olympic*). She will run an
excellent stock company without the current disaster of importing "stars." The repertory she
presents is made up of good foreign and American plays.
1857 - Ibsen* (the Norwegian guy) leaves Bergen and goes back to the Norwegian capital,
Christiana, to become the first artistic director of the Christiana Norwegian Theatre*. He will
write three more plays while he is here in Christiana.
American Theatre Blossoms
1857 - This year Dion Boucicault* (see above 1841) is in America and comes out with The
Poor (or Streets) of New York* (depending on where he does it, he uses the name of the local
city in this title, it's flexible). His plays and adaptations are becoming terrifically popular all
over, and now that he is here, the United States picks up on his work. His earlier adaptation of
The Corsican Brothers* (1852) is one of the most popular spectacular production shows and
will be kept in theatre repertories for years. Although Dion Boucicault* (1820-90) (an Irish
actor, director, playwright and theatre manager who first appeared as an actor in 1838) is
remembered now as a playwright, he is best known in his own day as an excellent actor with
great timing, characterization and technical perfection. Late in his life he lectures, writes on
acting, and runs a school for actors (with A. M. Palmer in connection with the Madison
Square Theatre*). His directing shows facility and inventiveness and his management brings
in a lot of innovations. He is very active in the American theatre in getting copyright laws
passed (1857) and ensuring that playwrights get royalties for their work. He's the first
dramatist in England to receive royalties on his plays. He writes over 250 plays and
adaptations
Some of his best known plays:
London Assurance* 1841, The Poor of New York* 1857, Octoroon, or Life in
Louisiana* 1859.
Plays of "authentic" Irish life and character:

The Colleen Bawn* 1860, The Wicklow Wedding* 1864, The Shaughraun*
1874.
Some of his best known adaptations:
The Corsican Brothers* 1852, Louis XI * 1855, Dot* 1859, Rip Van Winkle*
1865.
1857 James Buchanan* (1791-1868) comes in as the 15th president of the United States. He
will be busy trying to keep the "sacred balance" between the proslavery and antislavery
factions.
The French novelist, Gustave Flaubert* (1821-80), publishes his masterpiece, Madame
Bovary*.
1858 Minnesota enters the union as the 32nd state.
1858 - This year that operetta* business shows up in its best guise in Orpheus in the
Underworld*, by Jacques Offenbach* (1819-80). He's one of the top composers in this genre.
He will write over a hundred, but the best remembered will come in 1881.
Laura Keene*'s company (now employing excellent actors, such as Joseph Jefferson III* and
A.E. Sothern*) has a resounding success with Our American Cousin* by Tom Taylor*. This
play will have a long run and help establish New York as the theatre center of the United
States.
1859 This year the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps* (1805-94) begins building the
Suez Canal* (connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea so you don't have to sail all
the way around Africa to get from Europe to the East). It will take ten years to finish the
project.
Oregon becomes the 33rd state in the union. This year begins what is called the "Age of Oil".
The coal-oil (kerosene, a thin oil distilled from petroleum or coal shale) lamp has been
invented and the demand for oil leads to drilling near Titusville, PA. A fellow called Edwin L.
Drake* strikes oil this year and the petroleum industry is off and running.
Meanwhile, another fellow, Peter Cooper* (1791-1883), has been inventing devices and
processes in the iron industry and making pots of money (on that and owning more than half
of the telegraph lines in the U.S).. He's really big on helping educate the working classes so
this year, in addition to helping get a public school system in New York City, he founds the
Cooper Union, a free institution of higher learning with an evening engineering and art
school.
Darwin* comes out with his book The Origin of Species* this year and his theory of evolution
will go buzzing around Europe raising all kinds of reactions. Scientific thought will never be
the same. An English philosopher, Herbert Spencer* (1820-1903), will really pick up on this
and put it into his ethical and social views in numerous works (between now and 1893).
Another Englishman, Thomas Henry Huxley* (1825-95), a bioligist and educator, becomes
the principle exponent of Darwin*'s theory of evolution.
In Russia, Dostoyevsky* is out of prison and home in St. Petersburg from his exile in Siberia.
The French composer of romantic operas, Charles Francois Gounod*, produces Faust*.
1859 - Boucicault* (still in the United States) writes Octoroon, or Life in Louisiana*, the first
play that treats the Afro-American seriously. This play, too, will be very popular. He also
adapts Dickens*' The Cricket on the Hearth*, calling his play Dot*. The soon-to-be-popular
American actor, Joseph Jefferson* gets his first serious part in Dot*.
1860 - The well-made play* formula is picked up and exploited by another Frenchman,
Victorien Sardou* (1831-1908). This year he does one of his early successful comedies, A
Scrap of Paper*. Sardou* will be busy writing for the next forty years. He does a pretty good
job showing current society but lacks any character depth. We'll hear more about him as we
go along.
In Paris, one of the most famous actors of the period, Constant-Benoit Coquelin*, joins the
Comedie-Francaise*. He will stay with them for the next 26 years, building a reputation for
technical proficiency especially in comic roles and flamboyant romantic parts. He will also
write extensively on acting.
Most of the influence Italy has on the theatre in this period comes through international
touring of Italian actors. The most influential one is Tommaso Salvini* (1829-1915) who
begins touring this year. He is terrific in several Shakespearian roles, especially Othello*.
Fiery tragic acting is his hallmark and he will influence a Russian we'll be talking about later
(Stanislavsky*).
The American Civil War
1860 In America this December, Abraham Lincoln* (1809-65) is elected the 16th President.
This sends a signal to the South to secede from the Union. President Buchanan* promises
there won't be any hostilities but he sends troops to Fort Sumpter (South Carolina).
Hawthorne* publishes The Marble Faun*.
This year Garibaldi* leads a bunch of "red shirts" in a spectacular conquest of Sicily and
Naples. He turns it all over to the king, except for Rome, which doesn't get taken over.
1861 Kansas becomes the 34th state. Abraham Lincoln* finds that by Inauguration Day seven
states have seceded. When he summons the militia and Confederate troops fire on Ft.
Sumpter, four more states secede. The Confederacy* (made up of South Carolina, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia and
Tennessee) makes Richmond, VA their capital and they elect Jefferson Davis* president. This
will be the bloodiest war in the history of the country. Obviously theatre will be needed for
entertainment where there is no fighting, and, where the war is being fought, it will not do too
well. One thing this war will do is give railroads a terrific boost. For a big country like the
United States (however temporarily fragmented) this will be a good thing.
This year Italy is united as a country under Victor Emanuel II*, the king of Sardinia as the
new king of Italy.
In Great Britain this year, Prince Albert*, husband of Queen Victoria, dies and the Queen
goes into three years of seclusion.
1861 - Two months after the outbreak of the American Civil War Laura Keene*'s theatre is
the only one open in New York. Unfortunately her standards have to be lowered and the
company sinks to mainly melodrama and spectacle.
1860s In Great Britain miners and textile workers are getting organized into unions.
In France, Louis Pasteur* (1822-95) is busy developing the process of pasteurization which
will make food a lot healthier. Actually he is discovering microorganisms that cause food
spoilage and then he works on how to get rid of them. This leads to great improvements in the
canning business (started by Nicolas Appert* and patented in the U.S. in 1815).
1862 - In Paris this year an actress (who will become the most famous French star of the late
nineteenth century) makes her debut. Sarah Bernhardt* (1844-1923) will spend about ten
years performing and learning her art before making a deep impression on the theatrical
world.
In Russia this year a Frenchman, Marius Petipa* (1822-1910), is appointed balletmaster of the
Imperial Schools. This guy will raise Russian ballet to a peak of perfection. He will
choreograph 74 long works (including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, with
music by Tchaikovsky*) and give them the form long associated with the later, world-famous,
Russian ballet.
1862 This year another powerful player shows up on the European stage. This is a guy called
Bismark* (Otto von Bismark, 1815-98) who will be known as the Iron Chancellor*. This year
he becomes the premier of Prussia, and, acting for William I* (king of same), he (Bismark)
unconstitutionally dissolves the parliament and illegally levies a bunch of taxes to pay for the
army. He will be a busy (and devious) adversary for Austria.
1863 - This year a rising star of the American stage, Edwin Booth* (1833-93) takes over as
manager of the Winter Garden Theatre* (known as the Metropolitan Theatre* until 1859).
Edwin is one of three sons (the others are Junius Junior, and, of course, John Wilkes, of whom
we will hear more later) of the English actor, Junius Brutus Booth* Senior (1796-1852) who
came over to America in 1821. He (Edwin) made his first stage appearance at 16, toured
Australia and is now a fine tragedian. He will be the first American actor to get a European
reputation and will do a lot of starring tours all over. We'll hear more of him later.
1863 West Virginia is created the 35th state and Lincoln* issues the Emancipation
Proclamation* declaring all slaves free. They aren't, of course, in the Confederacy*. That,
however, will come soon. Meanwhile, the oil industry is taking off. This year John D.
Rockefeller* starts an oil refinery with some partners.
1864 This year Bismark* (the Prussian guy, see 1862) provokes a war with Denmark as the
first step toward getting Austria out of the German Confederation*. The next step will soon
follow.
In America, Nevada comes in as the 36th state and General Sherman is marching through
Georgia. The physical and economic devastation of the South sets theatre in that area back to
square one [It does't do anything else much good either.]
1864 - Ibsen* (the Norwegian playwright) gets a little traveling scholarship and takes off for
Italy. He won't go home for 27 years. Travel is broadening and he will learn a great deal more
about playwrighting in Europe. This year an English playwright, Thomas William Robertson*
(1829-1971), has his first big success with David Garrick*. He is one of the few in Great
Britain to be interested in this realistic* stuff, but since he worked for Mme Vestris* (see
above) it's logical. He's writing about contemporary life in very specific settings with great
detail about the place and the stage business. He will continue to write them throughout the
1860s but he's just about the only one.
1865 - Boucicault* writes Rip Van Winkle* for Joseph Jefferson* 1829-1905). Jefferson*
(the third) comes to be associated primarily with this role which he plays, almost exclusively,
for the next fifteen years. He first appeared on the stage at the age of 4 and will spend 71
years acting. He has a charming, humorous personality and is typical of the best in America at
this time. He toured Australia (1861-65) and becomes the recognized head of the American
acting profession when he succeeds Edwin Booth* as President of the Players Club (see 1888)
in 1893. He lectures, writes a delightful autobiography (1890) and generally serves his
profession well.
A native American, Lotta Crabtree* (1847-1924), makes her New York debut this year. She
has been dancing, singing and acting all over the west since she was six. She is one of the
most popular entertainers in America (especially in the mining towns where she tours widely).
Her versatility is legendary.
1865 An English surgeon, Joseph Lister* (1827-1912, 1st Baron of Lister) has been studying
that germ theory of Pasteur* and comes up with the beginning of antiseptic surgery.
The United States are finally united again with the surrender of Gerneral Robert E. Lee* at
Appomattox* to General Ulysses S. Grant*. The Civil War* is over and it will take a very
long time for the defeated South to recover.
This is the year Mark Twain* (1835-1910, pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
becomes widely known for his The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County*.
The Confederacy surrender happens on the 9th of April and on the 14th, while Lincoln* is
attending a performance of Our American Cousin* (by Tom Taylor*, put on by Laura
Keene*'s company) at Ford's Theatre*, the actor, John Wilkes Booth*, assinates him. This
throws the country into a tizzy and gives American theatre a black eye. No President will
again attend a theatre performance until the 1960s. The theatre manager and his brother are
thrown in jail for 39 days, but it turns out they had nothing to do with it. The theatre is closed
and never opened again. [Eventually, in 1932, the property will be turned into a Lincoln
museum. In 1954 Congress will vote money to restore the theatre to the way it looks this year.
It will open in 1968.]
The Vice President, Andrew Johnson* (1808-75), becomes the 17th president.
Social Turmoil Escalates
1866 The Austro-Prussian War* (better known as the Seven Weeks War) breaks out in June
and is over in August. The war is provoked by Bismark* in the second step in getting Austria
out of the German Confederation*. Prussia* comes out on top and makes a definite move
toward the eventual unity of Germany under Prussian dominance. Bismark* forms the North
German Confederation which excludes Austria and scares the various German states into
going along with Prussia* by playing up the bogey-man of France (they still remember what
Napoleon did to them). Bismark* still has one more step to take before he succeeds in uniting
Germany. That will come in 1870 (see below).
Mendel*'s genetic findings are published this year. They are pretty much ignored for years but
will resurface in 1900.
Dostoyevsky* is rapidly becoming a towering figure in world literature. This year he comes
out with Crime and Punishment*. A fellow countryman, Count Leo Tolstoy* (or Tolstoi, if
you prefer, 1828-1910), novelist and philosopher, creates his first masterpiece, War and
Peace*.
The German composer, Johannes Brahms* (1833-97) is busily writing some of the greatest
symphonic music ever. This year he is doing the German Requiem*.
1866 - Ibsen* (The Norwegian, now traveling in Italy) devises two verse dramas, Brand*, this
year and Peer Gynt*, next year. These two are instant cultural and commercial successes.
They establish his European reputation. They also, no doubt, contribute to his getting a
government pension this year.
In Russia they finally get full copyright protection for playwrights, thanks largely to the
efforts of Ostrovshy* (see 1847) who helps found the Russian Society of Dramatic Authors
and Composers this year.
In Germany, (actually in the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen) Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen*,
comes in as the ruler. He is a theatre bug and begins to overhaul the court theatre and take a
personal interest in everything they do. He will be very important in future theatre changes.
1867 Marx finally finishes the first volume of his major work, Das Kapital*. (Engels* will
edit volumes 2 and 3 after Marx dies and publish them in 1894). By this year we hear about
the Marxist philosophical method that will become so popular, dialectical materialism*.
In America, Nevada becomes the 37th state and William Henry Seward* (1801-72), Secretary
of State, persuades the government to buy Alaska from the Russians for $7.2 million (known
as "Seward's Folly).*
On the practical level, a German engineer named Nikolaus August Otto* (1832-91) shows up
as the co-inventor of the internal-combustion engine.
This year Great Britain passes the British North America Act which gives Canada internal
self-rule as a dominion. This will set a pattern of slowly releasing direct governing powers in
European-settled colonies.
We'd better take a minute here to look at the main points in two related terms that will be very
prevalent in the rest of this period. The first is Marxism*. Obviously, this refers to the ideas of
Marx*. The starting point is the view that (reversing the Hegalian* dialectical idealism) the
primary thing that determines history is economics. According to Marxism* the history of
society is the history of class* struggle.
In the old days class* included the nobility, clergy and serfs or slaves. During the previous
age there was the rise of a middle class of small business people called the bourgeoisie*. Now
the term bourgeoisie* means the capitalist class because the small business people have
exploded into factory owners and have filled the power vacuum left by a dwindling nobility.
Marxism* claims that the bourgeoisie* will be replaced by the working class. The working
class is now called the proletariat*.
Dialectical materialism* is the official philosophy of Communism* which holds that
everything is material. This means that people put together a social life in response to
economic needs. In this view every aspect of society reflects economic structure. [For
example, theatre once served the nobility as a way to show off their economic power (which
led to English theatre being dumped by the British Parliament when they threw out Charles I*
). In the Middle Ages the economic power of the Church enabled it to use theatre to keep
populations informed of its views and suitably subdued.]
Dialectical materialism* claims that the capitalist class is making a profit (surplus value) off
the work of the proletariat*. It also claims that all aspects of society reflect the economic
structure. [Theatre folk, for example, were poor, powerless, rogues and vagabonds until they
were able to own their own theatre buildings (beginning in the Renaissance) and take control
of the profits of their own production.] Dialectical materialism* claims that growth, change
and development come about through a naturally occurring "struggle of opposites" that
individuals don't have any power to influence. Later people will apply these principles to the
study of history and sociology and that will be called historical materialism*. That will be a
whole different kettle of fish and not at all the same as Communism*.
Marxism* insists that there are contradictions and weaknesses in capitalism* that will make
for terrific economic crises that will get increasingly worse, creating a poorer and poorer
proletariat*. When things get bad enough the proletariat* will revolt and take over control of
the means of production (industry). This revolution is supposed to result in a classless society
where the nasty, coercive state will be replaced by a benign and rational economic
cooperation. This whole idea will impact the development of Socialism* as well as
Communism* from here on out.
1868 Dostoyevsky* publishes The Idiot* in Germany.
1868-9 This is the year Louisa May Alcott* (1832-88) comes out with her ever-popular Little
Women*. She will write two sequels later.
1869 - Ibsen* (the now famous Norwegian playwright, still tootling around Italy and
Germany) abandons writing plays in verse and turns out a lighthearted satire, The League of
Youth*.
1869 Ulysses S. Grant* becomes the 18th president of the United States who continues the
punitive Reconstruction of the South. Unfortunately his administration will become known
for its corruption. This year (May 10th) the Union Pacific Railway meets the Central Pacific
at Promontory Point, Utah, finishing the first transcontinental railroad across America.
Between the rail expansion, the postwar economic expansion and the general massive
settlement of the country, this begins the period in which great fortunes will be made in rail,
steel and banking. [Collis Potter Huntington, Cornelius Vanderbuilt, Jay Gould, James Fisk,
Edward Henry Harriman, John Pierpont Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, J. D. Rockefeller*] These
entrepreneurs are relevant to social development since they also choose to become cultural
philanthropists. They will endow museums, universities, art galleries, libraries and
foundations to support the arts. While European countries accomplish their cultural goals by
state subsidy, the United States depends primarily on private support.
1870 - By this time the population of London is passing four and one-half million and the
number of theatres have increased to thirty. A variety of changes in theatrical production are
happening, too. Poetic drama and refined melodrama are the in thing. Actors are being hired
for the run of the show instead of a seasonal contract. The royalty system of paying
playwrights when their works are produced is beginng to be regular practice. The most
influential management (between 1860-80) is the Bancroft*'s (Squire Bancroft, 1841-1926,
and his wife Marie Effie, 1839-1921). What with all those lovely railroads going to all the
important places, the system of touring begins to change. The Bancroft*s start touring with a
full company, scenery and props. This system catches on and touring increases, with a
corresponding decline in the number of provincial resident companies. The Bancroft*s have
refurbished an old theatre which they now call the Prince of Wale's (not to be confused with
another theatre of the same name which will open later) and it becomes famous for the style
of domestic realism they develop, together with the playwright Robertson* (see above 1864).
Character and stage business go together for almost the first time. The orchestra seating
becomes the best place to sit and chair-style seating (they have just got rid of benches in the
ochestra pit) which are numbered and reserved really helps develop advance sales, while
advance sales encourage long runs. The Bancroft*s go in for long runs of the plays they put
on; in twenty years they only do thirty long plays (not counting the short curtain raisers, etc.).
There are no "stars" in the Bancroft*'s management and actors work on understatement
instead of "bravura" acting. They pay their actors so well (ten times the going rate) that they
can insist on not having "benefit" performances for them.
They use the box set* (see above) and give contemporary plays as much care as other
managements give to their period pieces. Other managements begin to adopt their attention to
modern play production and the over all production quality improves. The forestage* is no
longer used and everything takes place behind the proscenium arch*. The illusion of a fourth
wall* (between the audience and the stage, completing the room illusion of the three walls of
the box set) is always respected in Bancroft* productions.
1870 This year Bismark* (Prussian, remember?) provokes the Franco-Prussian War* (187071) as the final step in his plan to put together a unified German Empire. The Prussians
capture the French emperor, Napoleon III* and in Paris he (Napoleon III*) is deposed and
they set up a provisional government (September). The French army gives up but Paris holds
out.
The American oil business is building and J. D. Rockefeller* organizes Standard Oil.
Dickens* dies this year leaving the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood*. Another
English author, Samuel Butler* (1835-1902) comes out with his satirical novel Erewhon*.
1870s - In America, as in Great Britain, the railroads make theatrical touring with a full
company and sets a practical way to go. The resident stock company is at its peak and about
to decline in favor of the combination company* (one that travels with everyting from stars to
the smallest prop). By 1876-77 there will be at least 100 combination companies traveling
with full productions. Local managers begin to dismiss their troupes and turn into theatrical
landlords. A few managers maintain troupes in this transition period.
Edwin Booth*, who excels in Hamlet* (it ran 100 performances), on returning to the theatre
in 1869 (after a brief retirement from the shame of his brother's deed) renovates a theatre to
his own specifications. Booth's Theatre* has a level stage floor with no grooves (for sliding
scenery), several hydraulic elevators to raise sets from the floor below and 76 feet of fly space
overhead. There is no apron and he uses box sets extensively. The so-called "free plantation"
scenery arrangement will be picked up all over. Booth* will eventually be considered the
greatest actor this country has produced.
Augustin Daly* (1836-99) is a critic who then writes plays and, in 1869, gets his own theatre,
the Fifth Avenue Theatre*, and starts his own company. He, too, is big on realism. He
introduces things like the heroine tied to the railroad tracks as the train approaches and the
heroine locked in a stateroom on a burning steamboat. He works toward making the director a
major force in the theatre by being in absolute control of everything in the theatre. He works
so hard on coaching his actors that he attracts a lot of young ones and makes a lot of stars.
Fortunately he hangs on to some very good ones and becomes known as having the finest
ensemble* in America.
Steele MacKaye* (1842-94) is also a man of many talents. He is an actor, playwright,
director, inventor, designer and teacher. He goes over to France to study acting and brings the
Delsarte* method (see above) over to America. MacKaye* opens a series of acting schools
and training programs at his St. James' Theatre* in New York. He will do more of this
training business in the '80s. (see below 1884). Some of his plays achieve great success (see
below), but his inventions are best remembered (see 1879 in the next Chapter).
1870s - In France the movement of naturalism* begins to surface. In part it appears as a
logical outgrowth of the theories put forth in Darwin*'s The Origin of Species*. The notions
are that heredity and environment are primary causes of human behavior, and progress can be
made by applying scientific method and new technologies. The very name of the movement,
naturalism*, speaks of the current idea that human beings are part of nature (not set above it
in some superior way, as they believed before). Another factor in the rise of naturalism* is the
political and economic conditions in France after the Franco-Prussian War* (which isn't quie
finished yet). Socialism* and the plight of the workers become the focus for the naturalistic
movement. The first, and most famous, statement of this movement's doctrine will come soon
(see 1873).
1871 In January, Paris finally gives up. France has to pay a terrific amount for indemnity to
Prussia and give up most of that pesky Alsace and Lorraine territory (mentioned in the
Introduction as a bone of contention). Paris resists again, under the command of the
Commune of Paris*. This is a rebellious government in Paris, made up of radical republicans,
Marxists, socialists and anarchists*. These people object to the humiliating conditions Prussia
wants and they want economic reforms. The French royalists send a French army against the
Parisians, who hold out for five months. There are reprisals on both sides and after the defeat
of the Commune of Paris* more than 17,000 people are executed. Severe repression follows
the Commune's defeat which leaves a festering sore on the body politic of France.
In France, the Third Republic* is formed.
Down in Africa, the New York Herald has sent a British journalist, Sir Henry Morton
Stanley* (1841-1904), to find out what happened to Livingstone* (remember back in 1841, he
went exploring?). Stanley* finds Livingstone* and everybody is happy and now knows a
good deal more about what the interior of Africa is like.
This is the year when Darwin*'s (see above 1831) second big book, The Descent of Man*
comes out. Boy, does it stir up a kettle of worms! Everybody uses it to serve their own ideas
or to attack someone else's views.
In Great Britain, Geroge Eliot* publishes her masterpiece, Middlemarch.*
1871 - The Duke of Saxe-Meiningen* (see above 1866) hires a director this year, Ludwig
Chronegk* (1837-91). This guy will be a powerhouse in training the company and arranging
the future tours that will make this company world famous. The whole enterprise is an
ensemble effort. There are Ludwig, Georg II, his wife (in 1873) Ellen Franz* (1839-1923)
(who is an actress and takes over all the choice of plays, adapting the texts and supervising the
stage speech,) and the poet and writer, Friedrich von Bodenstedt* (1819-92), who also makes
translations from Russian and English (especially Shakespeare). The company works and
builds up authentic costumes, scenery and props using authentic materials instead of cheap
substitutes (heavy upholstery, real chain mail, period furniture, etc.), all designed by the
Duke. They also build the actors into an ensemble in which there are no stars and every actor
who plays a lead in one show has to play a bit part in another. Every actor in the company has
to appear in crowd scenes. This makes for really impressive crowd scenes in which the actors
really know what they are doing and make the whole scene look good. This will be one of the
startling things about this troupe, since other companies just use "extras" to fill in their
crowds.
The Duke has a very good sense of design and this shows in his sets and the arrangement of
the actors and their movement (blocking). The visual appearance of his productions is both
interesting and meaningful in terms of what the play is about. This is something new in the
theatre. It is possible because they can take as long as they want to rehearse a play. There are
only 8,000 people in the Duchy, so the theatre is only open twice a week for six months of the
year. Since the theatre is the Duke's personal project (not dependent on making a profit), he
can rehearse until it looks the way he wants it to. Soon they will begin to show their work to
the rest of Europe (see below 1874).
1872 - This is the year when Sarah Bernhardt* joins the Comedie-Francaise*. She will spend
the next eight years at this theatre attracting a lot of attention and not a little controversy. She
has terrific magnetism, stage presence and technical skill and her portrayals of pain, rage,
death and seductiveness, apparently can't be beat. All the great French roles from Phaedre to
Camille (and more in the future) provide her with her great success.
In Russia they finally get around to producing A Month in the Country* by Ivan Turgenev*
(1818-83). He had written this play back in 1850 but the censorship in Russia is so bad they
haven't gotten it on stage until now. His plays, particularly this one are an important
contribution to realism and the psychological development of characters in Russian theatre.
In Germany they finish building Wagner*'s Festival Theatre at Bayreuth*. Since Wagner* is
big on having a strong director and a unified production he wants the theatre to make all this
possible. His "master art work" (Gesamtkunstwerk*) will be done here and inspire much in
the way of architecture and production all over the world. In order to have a "classless:
theatre, Wagner* does away with the business of boxex, pit and gallery. There is just one
large seating arrangement with a sunken orchestra pit that goes back under the stage..
Golden Years of the Operetta*
1870s
Although the operetta* has been around in its present form since about 1848, it reaches
memorable heights during these twenty years. After a brief lull, there will be two more,
memorable, ten year periods later (1900s and the 1920s).
1873 - The Viennese composer, Johann Strauss* (1825-99), who has been busy writing
waltzes and operettas, comes out with Die Fledermaus*. In 1885 he will do The Gypsy
Baron*.
1873 - Ibsen* (The Norwegian) hasn't been writing for a while, but this year he produces a
ten-act, complex play, Emperor and Galilean*.
In France the first major statement of naturalism* occurrs in Emile Zola's (1840-1902)
preface to his novel, Therese Raquin*. He'll say more about it later. The major plays in this
genre are yet to come.
1874 In Great Britain, Benjamin Disraeli* (1804-81) becomes Prime Minister. He will lead in
many domestic reforms and a really aggressive foreign policy. He will be a favorite of Queen
Victoria*.
1874 - In France Realism in scenery, in terms of archeological accuracy, reaches its ultimate
pinnacle in the production of Sardou*'s spectacle, Hatred* (it's set in medieval Italy and uses
tons of costumes, armor and scenery).
This is the year the troupe of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen* begins to tour (they will continue
into 1890). The Meiningen Players* will be one of the various forces that will change the
theatre completely in the coming years.
GILBERT* AND SULLIVAN*
1875 - In England the brilliant pair, Gilbert* and Sullivan* (Sir William Schwenck Gilbert*
1836-1911, playwright and poet and Sir Arthur Sullivan* 1842-1900, composer) come out
with their hit, Trial by Jury*. It's produced by Richard D'Oyly Carte* (1844-1901), who will
later build a theatre (the Savoy* ) to house their plays. They will go on to write (among other
things) H.M.S Pinafore* (1878), The Pirates of Penzance* (1879), The Mikado* (1885),
Ruddigore * (1887), The Yeomen of the Guard* (1888), and The Gondoliers* (1889).
Sullivan's music is delightful and Gilbert*'s lyrics are hysterically funny. The satire of English
life and pretensions is so exquisitely biting that the playwright is snubbed when the composer
is knighted. These works will continue to delight audiences constantly through the present
day.
The immensely popular grand opera, Carmen*, by Georges Bizet* (1838-75), is launched this
year, too. The romantic ballet begins a renaissance in Russia where many of the great standard
ballets will be created.
1875 This is the time (1875-77) the Russian, Tolstoy*, writes his second masterpiece, Anna
Karenina*. Later we will get to his plays.
This year Great Britain buys the Suez Canal*. It is a smart move.
1876 The United States welcomes Colorado as the 38th state. That communication business is
taking off and this year Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) gets a patent for a telephone*.
That German engineer, Otto*, develops the four-stroke Otto cycle for the internal-combustion
engine. This little jewel will show up in the automobile, airplane and other motors.
A German bacteriologist, Robert Koch* (1843-1910), discovers the bacterial cause of a lot of
infectious diseases (this discovery will continue into the next century). Between improving
ways of keeping food healthy and preventing disease, the death rate begins to drop and the
beginning of overpopulation is underway.
Mark Twain* publishes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer*.
1877 - The English novelist and poet, George Meredith* (1828-1909) this year lectures on On
the Idea of Comedy* and Uses of the Comic Spirit* (these won't be published until 1897).
1877 Rutherford B. Hayes* comes in as the 19th president of the United States. It is a pretty
dubious election but, at least, he will finally bring an end to the Reconstruction.
Another American inventor is busy coming up with useful devices. This year Thomas Alva
Edison* (1847-1931) comes out with the carbon michrophone which they use in telephones
and later in sound recording, radio, etc.
The French novelist, Emile Zola* (1840-1902), is busy writing a whole bunch of novels. This
year he comes out with one of his best known, The Dram Shop*. He will be the leader of the
naturalism* movement and a vocal supporter of the victim of the Dreyfus* affair (see 1898).
**********************
Afterword
Realism* in literature and the theatre is now fully up and running and Ibsen* is about to join
it. Everybody is doing it and the next step will be to do it really well. Society is busily rushing
into what we call the modern world, in all directions. Political, social, economic,
philosophical and artistic movements are charging off in all directions and at great speed,
gathering momentum and size as they go like a bewildering series of snowballs hurtling down
hill at alarming rates. We will try to follow them into the eighties.
next Chap14
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Realism Triumphant
1877 - 1905
Introduction Since events are moving so rapidly, we need to take a little time here to catch up on the state
of world affairs around 1877. Europe is dominating Asia, the French in Indochina, the
Russians in the north and the English across the south. Railroads are springing up everywhere,
steamships are speeding up travel across the oceans, the telegraph is a reality and transatlantic
cable provides communication between Europe and America. Next year the first commercial
telephone exchange will go into operation in the U.S. The Ottoman Empire* is shrinking
visibly and the European powers are fighting over each piece.
British Empire - In 1877 Queen Victoria* is proclaimed Empress of India which puts Great
Britain in the position of being the most powerful player on the world stage. This is helped
along by the fact that Great Britain acquired the Suez Canal* (built by the French 1859-69) in
1875 when Disraeli* (who is now Prime Minister for Queen Victoria* again) gets Great
Britain to buy controlling interest in the Canal This is a smart move because it makes it
possible for British shipping to take the short route back and forth to India and parts East
instead of going all the way around Africa.
And, speaking of Africa - This year Great Britain annexes the Transvaal*. [This is that area in
north-east South Africa that was put together by the Boers* (a bunch of Dutch and French
farmers who had moved north from the coastal area to the veld, a high, mountainous area). In
1848 Paul Kruger* (1825-1904) and Jacobus Pretorius* (1799-1853, the Boer leader who
defeated the Zulus and founded the Boer Republic of Natal) created the nucleus of
Transvaal*. Pretorius'* son, Martinus*, was the first president of it. Martinus Pretorius* and
Paul Kruger* become leaders of the Boers opposed to British rule. There will be a lot of
fighting down here in Africa, especially when, in the near future, they find gold and diamonds
here.]
Australia has been attracting settlers ever since that big gold strike (1851). It will have another
gold strike in 1892. New Zealand is moving quietly along (being a self-governing colony
since 1852). It is a significant leader in social legislation in this period (see below).
Ireland, which has been a sticky part of the British Empire for a very long time, is soon going
to be a real pain for the government. The Irish will be part of that nationalism movement,
which will give rise to some pretty great theatre (see below).
India, now a crown colony and ruled from Great Britain (since the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58
was put down) is supplying cotton like crazy for British mills. The English are also into
Burma and places like that.
Europe - In 1877 Russia jumps into a war (which had started in 1875) which began as an antiTurkish uprising by Bosnia and Hercegovina (joined later by Montenegro and Serbia). The
Treaty of San Stefano ends this war with so much benefit to Russia (and a large, autonomous
Bulgaria is created) that all the other "great powers" get worried. In reaction (1878) they have
an international meeting called the Congress of Berlin*. This event is intended to figure out
how to stop Russia from eating up all the pieces of the decaying Ottoman Empire* as they
break away. All the European powers, as well as Russia and Turkey are there. The whole
thing is run by Bismark*(remember the Prussian, now German, chancellor?), as chairman.
The result is a definite change in the political situation, including breaking up Bulgaria into
three pieces. Everybody gets something, but not necessarily what they wanted. Montenegro,
Serbia and Romania are recognized as independent. Russia gets Bessarabia. The British get to
occupy Cyprus. Austria-Hungary gets Bosnia and Hercegovina. Russia gets mad at the way
Bismark* runs the conference and goes home. This whole Balkan area will continue to be a
tinder-box.
Africa - All the Europeans with any pretensions to being a power are staking out parts of this
continent as "protectorates", "colonies", or some such fancy names.
Asia - or, perhaps more clearly, the Far East, is becoming an area of interest and concern for
the Europeans. China is not very strong at this time, but Japan is. All the European powers
want to carve up and pin down pieces of this marvelous area. It is vitally important for the
European "powers" that they should have a nice, big, "sphere of influence" there.
France - Is doing quite nicely, thank you, with its Third Republic and all the French Empire in
Africa, Indonesia and a few spots in the Americas and the South Pacific. One of the things
France will be doing is introducing the culture and arts of the East through a series of
International Exhibitions. This will really shake up the arts.
United States - is very busy expanding internally and minding its own business. We start this
period as a non-player on the world stage with 35 states in the Union and a big silver boom in
Leadville* (Colorado) that helps move immigrants west. The country is still not doing well by
the native American population. The Nez Perc Indians (living up there in Oregon,
Washington and Idaho) were cheated out of land during the 1863 gold rush and this year they
have an uprising, led by Chief Joseph. The Reconstruction officially ends this year, leaving a
one-party "solid south" and a lasting racial bitterness. We will end this period as a new power
on the international scene with 45 states.
Socialism* is gaining wide spread interest and splitting up into a lot of political and economic
subdivisions according to where and when someone is talking about it. Communism* is still a
part of socialism, but Marxism* (all that stuff published by Marx* and Engels* and still
coming off the presses) is, apparently, a distinct view which is now influencing Socialism.
There is currently quite a struggle going on among socialists, especially after the First
International Workingmen's Association dissolved (1876) over a philosophical split between
Marx* and Mikhail Bakunin* (1814-76, the Russian revolutionary and chief exponent of
anarchism*). Some of these people will be getting quite violent soon.
In England - Almost everybody who is exiled from some other country seems to come to
London and set up shop. At the moment Marx* and Engels* are the biggest names, but
anyone interested in Socialism* or Marxism* (or any variant of these) comes here too. The
local English are working on trade unions and will soon work up something more.
In France - and in the other Latin countries of Europe, an economic and political variant of
Socialism*, called Syndicalism* is shaping up. This bunch advocates the control of the means
of production by organized bodies of workers. They also believe that any form of state is an
instrument of oppression, that the trade union should be the basis of society and that direct
action (like a strike or industrial sabotage) is the way to go.
These guys are pretty close to anarchism* (abolish the government) which is also attracting a
pretty big following in these parts.
In Eastern Europe - In Russia, Alexander II* (1818-81) has been busy adding central Asia and
those pieces now being acquired in the Russo-Turkish Wars* (1877-78) to the Russian
Empire. He has made some domestic reforms but they are not enough for the intelligentsia
(leading thinkers) who are busy forming all kinds of populist groups. He represses them and
we will be getting a good deal of terrorism here.
In America - Industrial giants are growing in number and in control of steel, railroads, coal,
iron-ore and oil. Millions of immigrants are streaming into the land of opportunity, looking
for a better life. Labor is struggling for some power to balance the enormous power of
management. Social reform is spreading through private organizations and people like
Dorothea Dix* (1802-87) who pioneers special treatment for the insane (in Canada, Europe
and the U.S.) and prison reform (also pioneered by Elizabeth Fry* earlier, in the 1820s).
There are extremes in radical Socialism* and anarchism* popping up here and there.
Education is becoming a very popular thing. In the early part of this century there had been
the lyceum*, an American association for popular instruction of adults by lectures, concerts
and whatever else worked. The subjects covered included the arts, sciences, history and public
affairs. After the Civil War the Chautauqua* movement takes its place. This new version
gives eight-week summer programs (kind of half way between a county fair and a revival
meeting). This makes a dandy platform for any number of theatre people. These are held all
over the country and thousands attend each year.
New Ideas
We are now into the time when all those scientific discoveries are colliding with the Christian
view of how and when the world was made. This creates a great deal of controversy and sends
thinkers spinning off in all directions. Some of these people who are thinking and writing will
have a monumental impact on society and on theatre.
One of the philosophers who is currently working is a German named Friedrich Wilhelm
Nietzsche* (1844-1900). He's a sort of individualistic moralist (rather than a systematic
philosopher) who has been strongly influenced by Schopenhauer* (with his doctrine of the
primacy of the will). He also is a friend of Wagner* (that German composer). He is first an
admirer of these two and then rejects their ideas.
Basically, Nietzsche* passionately rejects what he calls the "slave morality" of Christianity in
favor of a new, heroic morality that will affirm life. He talks about the leaders of this new
society as a breed of supermen. These leaders are different from common, garden variety
mortals (inferior types) because they have the "will to power". These ideas will cause untold
problems down the line. His major works will show up in the near future.
Another thinker is Emanuel Swedenborg* (1688-1772 Swedish scientist, religious teacher and
mystic) whose teachings had been carried on by the New Church* (or New Jerusalem) in
London, Baltimore and elsewhere. There is currently a revival of interest in this guy's ideas
(which are called Swedenborgian). In 1875 the Theosophical Society* gets started and
Swedenborg* is regarded as one of the major theosophists. Mysticism and the philosophy and
theology of the East, particularly India, are becoming very popular (you may notice these
ideas from India arrive in Great Britain first, since the English run India). There is some
similarity between the basic ideas of theosophy, Swedenborg* and Transcendentalism (see the
previous chapter). When we get to the theatrical movement of symbolism*, all these ideas
will directly affect theatre art (see Strindberg 1898).
This is the time when everyone is beginning to travel widely (what with all those available
trains and steamships). Actors as well as companies tour all over the world and, as a result,
theatre people are getting lots of new ideas from each other. Every time someone has a great
new idea it is picked up by some interested theatrical people in other countries. We will take
note of some of the major influential actors, designers, producers and directors as we go
along.
In America this period of time brings the death of all those repertory companies in towns and
cities all over the country. In 1870, there were 50 resident stock companies in America, but by
1880, there'll only be eight, and by 1900 they'll disappear entirely. Because of the railroads,
touring companies replace these repertory stock companies and New York becomes the center
for new production. [That's a position it hasn't lost yet.] Those touring Combination
companies (see previous chapter) are multiplying rapidly. Nearly 100 of these companies are
traveling all over the United States. Another kind of theatre develops to fill the gap between
the tours and the dying repertory. Between 1880-1900 a bunch of smaller resident companies
start up in large cities. These put on a winter season of a variety of short run plays for
neighborhood audiences. The prices these neighborhood theatres charge are a lot lower than
tickets for the touring companies. The number of these will grow slowly and they will reflect
the ethnic nature of the neighborhoods they grow up in. More about these as we go along.
Not only are new kinds of plays being written and produced, the kinds of producing groups
are changing, too. Ever since 1874 the Meininger Company* has been touring Europe. They
will go on to England and Russia, astonishing people everywhere. This will stimulate a lot of
theatre folk to try new ways of putting shows on and develop new producing groups to do it.
There is about to be a boom in the "amateur" theatre business. The stimulus for these kinds of
productions comes, in large part, from the kinds of plays being written.
Realism*
The entire western world is now familiar with realism* and literature and theatre are
exploring its possibilities. There will be many significant playwrights who make their mark in
this genre. The first is Ibsen*, but he will be rapidly followed by many others. As the
Industrial Revolution* spreads over the world two social classes are most affected, the
bourgeoisie* (in Realism), and the proletariat* (in Naturalism).
Realism* in literature deals with both classes but Realism* in the theatre deals primarily
(although not exclusively) with the bourgeoisie*, those middle-class capitalists who are
caught in a rapidly changing social and economic world. On one hand these people live in a
society of strict, "Victorian" prudery and morals, but, on the other hand, they are genuinely
concerned with social problems and new ways of meeting these. Conflicts between these two
pressures show up in the roles of women, in marriage, in business ethics, in all problems of
sex and the dilemmas of personal identity in an increasingly complex and mechanized world.
The social "problem" play is on the rise.
In America the popularity of the western movement is showing up in the writings of authors
like Mark Twain and Bret Harte. These writers have a big impact on the American theatre
because they influence playwrights. Many of the plays that are being written are not
memorable, but they contribute to the realistic trend. For example, there are two, fairly
forgettable playwrights working on developing realistic character locale and action, Bartley
Campbell* (1843-88) and Augustus Thomas* (1857-1934). Campbell*'s My Partner* exploits
frontier life and Thomas*' plays (Alabama*, In Mizzoura*, and Arizona*) put in a lot of local
color. Realism in character, place and events becomes the way to go for theatre in the late
nineteenth century.
Scientific Based Art
There is now a genre called Impressionism* which deals with surface appearances. It is based
on "scientific" knowledge and discoveries and begins in the visual arts (painting) and
spreading to literature, theatre and music. The scientific basis of Impressionism* concerns
observing nature closely and representing objective reality by reproducing the elements of it
appearance. The scientific interest for painters includes a concern for sense perceptions and
how the eye physically perceives color and shape. There's also an attempt to show fleeting
visual impressions. Artists associated with this movement are Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir,
Sisley, Cezanne, Pissarro, Morisot, Degas and Manet. (We'll take note of some of their works
as they come along.) In music Impressionism* starts as a reaction to Romanticism, using new
chord combinations and exotic rhythms and scales to put together a series of impressions that
have to be assembled in the mind of the beholder. One of the most prominent composers is
Claude Debussy, who develops a style in which atmosphere and mood replace the romantic
strong emotion and story. Other composers are Ravel, Delius, Falla and Satie. In literature
there will be a number of poets and novelists, Rimbaud Mallarme, Amy Lowell, Joyce and
Dos Passos. In theatre the emphasis is both on atmosphere and mood and an attempt to
capture a fleeting impression. This will show up briefly in the work of Maeterlinck* (see
below 1893).
The increasing scientific knowledge intrigues artists and, in literature and theatre, Naturalism*
(concerned with "scientific" factors like how environment and heredity affect people and their
behavior) is one way to go. Authors in this genre concentrate on characters from the
proletariat, the working and oppressed poor who are most strongly affected by the
environment of their work place and crowded, unhygienic living conditions. Obviously plays
in this genre are going to be pretty depressing and not popular fare.
Realism Comes of Age
Ibsen
In 1877 Henrik Ibsen* (that Norwegian from the last chapter) changes his style of
playwrighting and begins a series of twelve plays that will bring him an international
reputation and place him firmly in the forefront of the realistic theatre movement. This year
he produces Pillars of Society* which looks into the social problem of a public life that is
rooted in a lie. Next year this play will be seen all over Germany. He is busy portraying smalltown life in a realistic fashion and putting the spotlight on the lies on which some societies are
based. He will carry this theme through the next three plays [A Doll's House* (1879), Ghosts*
(1882), and An Enemy of the People (1882).] After these first four realistic plays he will
begin to add symbolism to what are still basically real works. We will look at this next group
below (1884).
Reactions to Realism* and Naturalism
Realism* and Naturalism have hardly begun when there's an artistic reaction against them.
Based on the same tenets of Romanticism that helped give rise to realism*, symbolism*
becomes a conscious art-form in this last part of the nineteenth century. Of course there have
been symbols used on the stage since there first was a stage, but this movement takes the view
that surface appearances are not as important as the "inner life" which can only be shown
through symbols. This movement will rapidly fragment into a whole range of "isms"
(expressionism will be one of the most important). Many playwrights will work in more than
one genre and we can see symbolism* in Ibsen* and Maeterlinck*.
In America, a theatrical family is beginning to make themselves known, working for Augustin
Daly* at his Fifth Avenue Theatre*. The family includes Maurice Barrymore* (1847-1905
who came over from England to work for Daly in 1875), his American wife Georgiana Drew
Barrymore* (1956-93), (her parents were Louisa and John Drew* (1827-62), and her brother,
John Drew*. They also act in the company of Mme. Modjeska* (1840-1909). Mme.
Modjeska* is a Polish lady who acted for years in Cracow and Warsaw, emigrating in 1876 to
America, where she becomes immediately successful even though she speaks English pretty
poorly. She will tour in America, London and Europe. The Drews* and the Barrymores* will
have children who will also become famous actors.
1877 In the U.S. there is a new president. Rutherford B. Hayes* (1822-93) takes over as the
19th holder of this office. He makes it in by the skin of his teeth with disputed returns in four
states. Congress has to appoint an electoral commission to figure out the election results. He'll
only serve one term. There are various serious labor disputes. In Scranton, PA mining areas
the Molly Maguires* (an Irish terrorist society from the government's point of view, a labor
protection society from the workers point of view) murder mine officials and police and
eleven leaders are hung. There is a violent national railroad strike and President Hayes* sends
in troops to break the strike.
On a more peaceful note, Congress approves the use of a site on Bedloe Island (now known as
Liberty Island, in New York harbor) for a proposed statue. The statue, designed by Frederic
Auguste Bartholdi* (1834-1904), is proposed as a gift from the French people
commemorating French-American friendship.
Theatre 1878
This year Emile Zola* publishes the first volume of a collection of his theories and critical
articles, entitled Le Naturalisme au thtre* In England, Gilbert* and Sullivan* write H.M.S
Pinafore*.
Also in England, there is a new acting team that will dominate the English stage for many
years. The actress Ellen Terry* (1847-1928, mother of Edward Gordon Craig*) who is quite
prominent and popular in her own right, is hired by Henry Irving* (1838-1905, actormanager, who, this year inaugurates his own management at the Lyceum* Theatre. He is an
excellent manager, always hiring the best talent in design and music as well as acting. He will
also come to be recognized as one of England's greatest actors. (He will be the first actor ever
to be knighted, in 1895.) He is an intense actor who holds his audiences spellbound and she is
a brilliant leading lady. Together, they will dominate the English stage into the next century.
1878 In the U.S. the American labor organization, Knights of Labor*, (started in 1869 in
Philadelphia) becomes a national organization. It's organized on an industrial basis welcoming
women and Afro-Americans, even employers. This bunch are trying to get an eight-hour day,
equal pay for equal work and getting rid of convict and child labor. Their membership will
grow to over seven hundred thousand by 1886 (see below).
The first commercial telephone interchange goes into operation in the U.S. this year. Thomas
A. Edison* founds the Edison Electric Light Co.
What with all the social problems, poverty and general rotten living conditions in the cities,
private organizations rise up to help. In England, a Protestant denomination movement
becomes the Salvation Army* under the leadership of William and his wife, Catherine
Mumford Booth*. They will start an American branch in Pennsylvania in 1880.
Theatre 1879
Henrik Ibsen starts this year with one his best know and most widely done realistic plays, A
Doll's House. This one looks into deceit and deception in domestic life. It is also taken up by
the feminist movement as an accurate picture of the intolerable position of a wife and mother
in a patriarchic society. This one will be a favorite down through the years.
Gilbert* and Sullivan* write The Pirates of Penzance*.
This year that fabulous French actress, Sarah Bernhardt* (1844-1923), makes her first London
appearance (in Phaedre*). She will begin to tour more and more as time goes on, impressing
audiences all over the world with her fire and passion on the stage.
This year in America, Augustin Daly* (1836-1899 see previous chapter) ends his
management of the Fifth Avenue Theatre* (1869-79) and opens his own, Daly's Theatre*
(New York, 1879-1920). Daly* is also theatrical critic and dramatist who adapts several plays
by Dumas* and Sardou for the American stage and writes original plays that emphasize
realistic special effects. Now that he has the realistic plays and a theatre of his own he will
help to establish the director as a major force in the theatre. Daly's Theatre* will become one
of the major theaters in New York.
Steele MacKaye* (1842-94) takes over the Fifth Avenue Theater* this year when Daly*
leaves. He renames it the Madison Square Theatre*. It has two elevator stages 22 feet wide
and 31 feet deep. MacKaye* is an actor, playwright, director, inventor, designer, and teacher.
He will go on (in 1885) to build the New Lyceum Theatre* on Fourth Avenue where he
installs the first electric lighting and begins to emphasize safety devices. He also starts the
first school of acting at the Lyceum, using what he learned from studying with Delsarte (see
Chapter Thirteen).
David Belasco* (1859-1931), who began his theatrical career as a child, playing the young
Duke of York in Richard III* as part of Charles Kean*'s farewell tour, makes his first
appearance in New York with James A. Herne* (1839-1901) in a play they jointly adapted,
Hearts of Oak*. It's a flop and Belasco* goes back home to San Francisco. However, we will
hear a lot about both these guys as time passes.
In London, a new playwright gets his first success in town. Henry Arthur Jones* (1851-1929)
brings out his farce, A Clerical Error*. He will go on to be one of the successful playwrights
of his period, despite the fact that his work depends more on melodramatic elements for their
success, than on the "theatre of ideas" to which his plots belong. None of his plays wear well
enough to have later revivals.
1879 Edison* comes out with what may be his most famous invention, a practical
incandescent light* and a design for a complete distribution system for light and power. This
will be picked up by the theatre just as soon as there are generators and electric lines up and
running. This invention will also make a difference in every area of society and work.
The American novelist, Henry James* (1843-1916) has settled in London and this year he
writes Daisy Miller*. He is regarded as one of the masters of the novel.
This year Germany and Austria-Hungary get together in a secret Dual Alliance* to try to
protect their turf from Russia on the east and the rest of Europe on the west. There will be a
big growth in alliances and confrontations among them.
A brief look at the start of the Panama Canal* In France this year Ferdinand de Lesseps* (the French man who organized the building of the
Suez Canal* in 1859) wants to complete the circle and open another canal in the Americas so
ships can sail around the world the short way. He has a terrific reputation in France after the
Suez success (they call him "Le Grande Francaise") and lots of people are eager to put money
into his Canal company (you will note this job is to be a private enterprise, a for-profit
enterprise). The Suez Canal is a 150 mile, sea level, waterway dug in the sand. The terrain of
the Americas at the narrowest part (the isthmus) is totally different. De Lesseps* is not an
engineer (he's an entrepreneur) and has never been to Central America, but he claims a sea
level canal can be dug at the narrowest point, following the rail line, which is a mere fifty
miles from ocean to ocean. Boy, is this a big mistake! When he presents his idea at a meeting
in Paris, a French engineer who has some experience in tropical America (de Lepine*) claims
it will be a death trap, and goes on to outline another way it could be done, with locks and an
artificial lake. He gets brushed off as doing it the hard way (but his view will turn out to be
right on the button). So the French canal project is off and running.
Theatre 1880
This year that spectacular French actress, Sarah Bernhardt*, tours to New York in a Scribe*
play (Adrienne Lecouvreur*). It is a triumphant appearance and she will come back to
America many times. She has left the Comedie-Francaise* and begins to manage various
theatres in Paris when she is not on tour.
Another very famous French actor, Constant-Benoit Coquelin* (1841-1909, also known as
Coquelin ain to distinguish him from his brother, Coquelin cadet) is still attached to the
Comedie-Francaise*. He will also begin touring soon and will act frequently with Bernhardt*.
This year he comes out with his first book on acting, L'Art et le comdien*.
In New York, Daniel Frohman* (1851-1940) becomes the business manager of Madison
Square Theatre* He really likes this management business and will go on to be one of the
major American managers.
1880 Zola* publishes another of his best known novels, Nana* and Guy de Maupassant*
(1850-93) is getting considerable attention for his short story, Tallow Ball*. Guy de
Maupassant* is known for his psychological realism* and has enormous influence on all
European literature. He will write about 300 short stories as well as a number of novels.
The Russian, Dostoyevsky*, creates his masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov*.
By this time railroads are spreading like crazy. More than 150,000 miles of track had been
laid worldwide and this will increase another 100,000 miles in the coming decade.
In the U.S. that petroleum business (see above 1859) is slowly growing. This year they start
petroleum production in Wyoming.
International Touring
1880s and beyond The emphasis all over Europe, America and Australia is on stars with big reputations making
tours year after year. Henry Irving* (English, 1838-1905) will tour from this time until
shortly before his death (going to America eight times between 1883 and 1902).
Tomasso Salvini* (Italian, 1829-1916) has already been touring and will continue into the
20th century (going to America five times).
Constant-Benoit Coquelin* (French, 1841-1909) is about to join the touring circuit (America
three times).
Sarah Bernhardt* (French, 1845-1923), probably the most indefatigable tourer of all, has been
on the road for several years and will spend the rest of her life doing it. (North America nine
times, South America even more).
Eleonora Duse* (Italian, 1858-1924, see below) will tour beginning in 1885 and will continue
until her death.
These foreign companies usually perform several different plays, sort of in repertory. When
American actors tour around the U.S., they generally perform just one play.
Theatre 1881
The Meininger Company* tours thirty cities, this year they go to Drury Lane* in London.
Their productions make a real impression everywhere, here the company makes its mark on a
young English director-designer, Edward Gordon Craig * (see below 1903).
In England, a rising young actor and director, William Poel* (1852-1934, who changed his
family name, Pole, because his father hated having his son go into the theatre) becomes
manager of the Old Vic*.
This is the year Offenbach* comes out with his best known work, Tales of Hoffman*. This is
based on three of the stories of E. T. A. Hoffman*, a German romantic novelist and composer
who specialized (in the 1820's) in gothic tales of madness, the grotesque and the supernatural.
Europe finally has a Spanish dramatist whose works have great influence outside Spain. Jos
Echegaray* (1832-1916) writes plays with the verse-form and imagery of the Romantics, but
they deal with social problems. The audiences love them, but the plays are terrifically
controversial. This year he creates his most important work, El gran Galeoto* (produced in
England as Calumny and in the U.S. as The World and His Wife).
The Rise of Vaudeville*, the American form [It will have its heyday from now to 1932. This is the parent of contemporary TV variety
shows.] Vaudeville* is the name adopted in the U.S. for a kind of respectable family
entertainment that is growing up to replace the earlier Variety (and the Burlesque*, or "legshow", which are degenerating from the earlier music hall shows into beer hall entertainment
for drunks and prostitutes). About twenty years ago (1860s) this vaudeville stuff was
pioneered by a guy named Tony Pastor * (1837-1908) who started out in circuses and minstrel
shows (see previous chapter) and moved into Variety in 1861, but it was in really crummy
shape. He decided to come up with a clean, wholesome, family type variety. In 1865 he had
opened a theater to do this stuff in, but it's not until this year (1881) that he presents first
performance of what comes to be called Vaudeville*. It opens at the Fourteenth Street
Theatre* (NY of course), which he has just acquired. The opening production has eight
contrasting acts that include comedy, acrobatics, singing and dancing, with a "headliner" (a
big name). The Headliner for this opening is a male impersonator, Ella Wesner* who does
some comic skits satirizing various types of "dandies" and she sings some English music hall
songs.
This "male impersonator" stuff is getting to be very popular (ever since women got to start
performing on the stage in England in 1660, having women play men's parts has been a big
thrill, you can see their figures!. The female actor also gets to play a wider range of parts this
way). In addition to this new bill of eight acts Tony Pastor* has banned drinking, smoking
and vulgar acts, and always sings (in his rich tenor voice) popular ballads in all his shows. As
time goes by most of the famous vaudeville acts will appear here. (Weber and Fields*, Lillian
Russell* (1861-1922) etc.) The whole thing works so well that others will jump on the band
wagon and continue to develop Vaudeville*. Benjamin Franklin Keith* (1846-1914, known
later from the "Keith circuit") and his partners, Edward Albee* (the elder) and Frederick
Francis Proctor* (1851-1929) are among the better known showmen. Performers all over the
country leap at the chance to appear in these spacious theatres with comfortable dressing
rooms and genteel, refined bills of acts. New audiences lead to new material, new sketches,
and more and different acts (animals, magic) and comic sketches that quit the earlier slapstick
and turn to blending true humor with pathos.
This year as well, another Vaudeville* actor and comic writer, Edward "Ned" Harrigan*
(1845-1911) and his partner, the female impersonator Tony Hart* (1855-91), take over the
New York Theatre and call it the New Thtre Comique. As a comic writer, Harrigan* mines
New York's seamier side as a rich source of material. His "Bowery Boy" comedies combine
broad farce with absolute realism of dress and background, especially New York character
types of German- and Irish- and Afro-Americans. His characters are the ordinary people of
New York's immigrant and black population, living in the back streets of the big city. This
year he opens and acts in his play, The Major*. In addition to his full length plays, he writes a
number of songs and over 80 vaudeville sketches.
1881 Edison* gets the world's first central electric-light power plant up and running in New
York City. [He also is running the first industrial research lab in his New Jersey work shops.
This research lab business will be the way to go for the twentieth century.]
In the U.S. this year there is a new president (20th), James A. Garfield* (1831-81). As you
can see he doesn't last very long (March to September). He's shot July 2nd by a disappointed
office seeker. At this point the office goes to Chester A. Arthur* (1830?-86), 21st president.
This year Samuel Gompers* (1850-1924) (an Englishman who emigrated to the U.S. in 1863,
worked as a cigar maker and joined the local union) helps found the labor organization that
will grow into the AFL (see 1886).
Booker T. Washington* (1856-1915) founds Tuskegee Institute as an educational institution
for Afro-Americans.
Clara Barton* (1821-1912), who worked behind the German battle lines in the FrancoPrussian War for the International Red Cross, organizes the American Red Cross* this year.
{She is known as the "Angel of the Battlefield".] She will head this organization until 1904.
Henry James* publishes The Portrait of a Lady* this year, contrasting the naive quality of
Americans with the sophisticated culture of Europeans.
That French business of digging a sea level Panama canal is under way. They clear a path a
hundred feet wide across the isthmus and start digging. It is the greatest construction job ever
attempted. Unfortunately nature is against them, there are diseases (malaria, yellow fever,
typhoid and small pox, to name a few), ticks, snakes, murderous saw grass and rain, rain, rain.
But they are Frenchmen with their national honor at stake and they slog on.
Art Nouveau*
Beginning in the 1880s this decorative art movement starts up (it will last into WW I). With
symbolic, often erotic, themes, you can recognize the rich ornamental twining tendrils and
asymmetry of its prominent lines. It's terrific for illustrators and in furniture, jewelry and book
design. Some of the best known illustrators are Aubrey Beardsley and Walter Crane in
England Otto Eckmann in Germany.
In theatre we see a lot of this style of illustration in posters for Sarah Bernhardt*'s tours and
Aubrey Beardsley*'s (1872-98) book illustrations for books like Oscar Wilde*'s Salome*
(1894).
Practitioners of this style in other arts include:
Architects: Henry van de Velde and Victor Horta in Belgium
Antonio Gaudi in Spain
Hector Guimard in France
Peter Behrens in Germany
Louis Sullivan in the U.S.
Jewelry designer Rene Lalique in France
Painter Gustav Klimt in Austria
Glassware designer Louis C. Tiffany in the U.S.
Jews
At this time in Western Civilization we need to take a quick look at that group of people
loosely known as the Jews. Although their religion, original Semitic ethnic subgroup and
geographic locus ties them to the Middle East in general and Palestine in particular, they have
been traveling all over the world and settling in any number of countries for at least two
thousand years. This has led to ethnic and cultural mixes that result in Jewish populations
who are strongly tied to the country in which they have lived as long as anyone else. To the
extent to which these Jewish Russians (or Germans, English, etc.) retain their Jewish religion,
culture, language and customs, they remain a distinct group in their adopted country. In many
instances, Jewish populations down-play their differences from the rest of the population (in
France and England, for example). Obviously a country's policy toward such a subgroup
makes a great deal of difference in whether or not they can be absorbed into the general
population. In Russia, at this moment, there is a definite anti-Jew bias running.
In Russia, all that repression (see above) gets Alexander II* assassinated and his son
Alexander III* (1845-94) takes over. He increases police power, censorship and control of the
peasants, forces Russification on ethnic and national minorities and persecutes the Jews. This
will make everybody mad. [They still are.]
In Russia there are three main anti-Jewish blocs, the peasants and Cossacks of the Ukraine
(who see the rich Jew as an exploiter and the poor Jew as a rival), the intellectual Slavophils
(who believe in the sacred mission of the Slav peoples under the guidance of the Orthodox
Church and see the Jews as anti-Christ and aliens on Russian soil acting against Russian
interests) and the Tsarist Government and aristocracy (who are busy trying to subdue and
control several hundred ethnic, cultural and linguistic minorities in all that vast territory they
have taken over).
In order to control the 5 million Jews in Russia the government has set up (beginning in 1815)
what is called the Pale of Settlement* to which Russian Jews are confined by law. No more
than 300,000 Jews manage to live outside this Pale at this time (and many of these do so
illegally). Since 1871 there are an increasing number of "pogroms" (a kind of mob attack,
often with government approval) inside and outside the Pale.
This year (1882) Alexander III* launches a number of repressive moves. Half a million Jews
who live in the rural areas of the Pale are driven out of their homes and resettled in towns or
townlets (shtetis) so they can be more easily controlled. Another quarter million Jews who
live along the western frontier zone are moved into the Pale and a move is on to bring another
700,000 Jews living east of the Pale, inside the border (this will take into 1891). [Today we
can get some slight sense of this period in the musical Fiddler on the Roof.] As we move on in
time, this preoccupation of various countries with the Jews will get a lot worse. Fortunately
for American theatre (and movies), many of the highly talented Russian Jews emigrate to our
shores.
Theatre 1882
Ibsen launches Ghosts this year. This will come to be regarded as the best play he writes (see
below). It uses the currently popular information about heredity and the transmission of
venereal disease as a symbol of moral corruption in society and how it infects others. He also
brings out An Enemy of the People* this year. In this one a man of honesty and truth has to
come to terms with a polluted society. As you can see, Ibsen* is really into social problems.
In Russia times are changing for the theatre, and, beginning this year, private theatrical
enterprises are allowed in the whole Empire. This will lead to some terrific theatrical changes.
In France the French actor, Coquelin*, publishes his second book on acting, Les Comdiens
par un comdien*.
Also in France, one of the leading exponents of naturalism*, Henri Becque* (1837-99) comes
out with the first of his two best known plays, Les Corbeaux*. Becque* writes naturalistic
dramas of great force and uncompromising honesty with really rotten characters. They aren't
very successful until later, when Antoine* (see below) produces them at his little theatre in a
very naturalistic style.
In America, David Belasco* is called back (from San Francisco) to New York to run the
Madison Square Theatre* when MacKaye* leaves it.
1882 In European politics his year the Dual Alliance* turns into the Triple Alliance* when
Italy joins it. These guys are very concerned about protecting their interests in the Balkans
and trying to get some pieces of Africa.
By this time the Ottoman Empire* has lost control of most of North Africa and the Balkans.
Back in America, an educator and temperance (anti-alcoholic beverages) leader, Frances
Willard*, believes that women can gain political power through the temperance crusade. She's
been president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), supports women's
suffrage and, this year, she helps found the Prohibition Party*. Next year she will publish her
book, Women and Temperance*.
Theatre 1883
In Berlin a private play producing company, the Deutsches Theater*, is founded to produce
good plays in repertory because they are pretty tired of the long runs of outmoded theatrical
traditions the regular theatres are doing. They have been impressed by the spectacular work of
the Meininger Company* (who toured Berlin 1874) and are trying to do the same sort of
thing. They concentrate on classical historical plays like the Meininger* players do. Later on
they will change (see below, 1894).
This year Bjornstjerne Bjornson* (1832-1910), Norwegian poet, dramatist and novelist (will
earn a Nobel prize for literature in 1903) puts out his best known work Pastor Song*.
This year in America we see the closing of Booth's Theatre* (the one that opened in 1869).
Edwin Booth* has been busy touring the United States and Australia and has set a record of
100 performances as Hamlet*. Booth's Theatre, built for Edwin Booth*, has been using solid
sets instead of the usual wings and flats, the stage floor is level instead of raked, and it has
elevators and flying machinery. Booth* and his brother Junius* ran the theater for five years,
until 1874 when they went bankrupt from putting on such lavish productions. Then it was
turned over to the control of Jarett and Palmer This year it closes with the last production of
Romeo and Juliet*, the same play opened the theatre in 1869.
1883-87 During this period there are some remarkable social reforms in Germany. These
come about as a by-product of the trouble the "Iron Chancellor", Bismark*, is having with the
Church. Since Bismark* intends to run things his way, he is not about to let the Church tell
him what to do. In this fight he needs support and finds it in the liberals. They, the liberals,
want something for their cooperation. That's how we get the revolutionary social reforms
(which include child labor laws, maximum number of work hours, and, old age, illness and
unemployment insurance). Bismark's economic policies results in rapid growth of German
industry and the acquisition of overseas colonies.
1883-91 This is the time during which Nietzsche* is doing one of his major works, Thus
Spake Zarathustra*
In America the Brooklyn Bridge opens. Americans are busy being exceptional builders of
dams, railroads and bridges.
A Moment out to consider the Far East China - Ever since the British-provoked Opium War* in 1839-42 when China gave Britain
Hong Kong, the Chinese have been unable to keep Europeans and their trade out. France,
Germany, Russia and Britain, all have this extraterritoriality standing. This means that any
person of any of these foreign nationalities is immune (as if they were diplomats) from local
law enforcement. Boy, this really makes cheating the Chinese easy. On top of this, the
Chinese can't get their government (the Ch'ing regime) running very well. They keep having
internal rebellions like the Taiping* Rebellion (1850-64) which involved a radical military
religious group who, as usual, thought they could run things better. At the moment China is in
pretty poor shape, beset by all those European powers looking for "spheres of influence" and
even taking bits of Chinese territory, here and there.
Japan, on the other hand, is doing pretty terrific. Ever since that naval officer, (Matthew C.
Perry, 1853) arrived in Japan to force it to open up to trade, and the old government (the
Shogunate) collapsed and turned over power to the new government (the Meiji Restoration,
1868) Japan adopts western civilization in a serious and speedy way. These amazing people
go from a feudal society to modern industrial state in a few decades. Right now they are
picking up some of the less admirable characteristics of the Europeans and looking for
territory they can pick up to enlarge their "sphere of influence".
By and large the rest of the Far East is either already colonized by the Europeans or is still
hanging on to their independence by the skin of their teeth (like Korea). Some of the major
spots already colonized include:
the colonial Empire of France includes Indochina which is known as "French Indochina",
that's the eastern part of the geographic Indochina (comprised of Burma, Malaysia, Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam);
the Dutch Empire includes Java (since 1619) and the holdings of the Dutch East India
Company in Indonesia (since 1799).
the Spanish Empire is still hanging on to a number of places around the world, in the Far
East it is the Philippines.
One of the important things to consider at this time is that all kinds of impressions and
examples of, and information about, Far Eastern arts are beginning to trickle back to Europe
through all this colonizing and trade. Much more of this Eastern art business is about to show
up at the Paris Exposition (1889) where it will blow European artists sox off.
Theatre 1884
This year Ibsen* begins to make more use of symbolism* in his new play, The Wild Duck*.
This shift includes a change in focus as he moves to exploring the individual as isolated and
cut off from those around him. He begins his interest in what comes to be called the "life lie".
This refers to the individual's need to have a particular belief about himself which may (and
usually is) at odds with what others see as the truth.
In New York, the theatre manager, director, playwright, Belasco*, puts on his own play, May
Blossom*.
1884 Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary renew their Triple Alliance.
In France trade unions are legalized this year.
Russia has completed its expansion south, taking Turkestan, all the Caucasus and a bunch of
territory from the Chinese in the East.
In America this year, the railroad finally reaches Seattle (Washington).
That French gift of a statue is finished this year and formally presented to the U.S. Minister by
(guess who) Ferdinand de Lesseps*, head of the Franco-American Union. Americans rush to
lay the cornerstone for the pedestal to support the lady. They are having a little trouble raising
the money to build it.
la belle poque
The Banquet Years* and the start of the avant-garde* in France
A quick look at Paris - In May, 1885, shortly after a huge state banquet celebrating his
eighty-third birthday, the founder of French romanticism, Victor Hugo,* dies. It signals the
end of an era in France. He leaves a will which says: "I give fifty thousand francs to the poor.
I desire to be carried to the cemetery in one of their hearses. I refuse the prayers of all
churches. I ask for a prayer from all living souls. I believe in God." His remains lie in state for
twenty-four hours on top of an urn which fills the Arc de Triomphe, guarded in half-hour
shifts by children dressed in Grecian costumes. The whole of Paris goes wild, with an endless
procession across Paris all the next day, ending with the final entombment in the Panthnon
(they specially unconsecrated the church for the event). The whole, fantastic event celebrates
the end, for the French, of the romantic movement, Victor Hugo and the nineteenth century.
Paris has just finished a face-lift, open, inviting and very theatrical. In this environment
theatre flourishes, legitimate, illegitimate, operatic, boulevard, nice and naughty. The idols of
Paris range from the stars of the Comedie-Francaise* to the singers of the caf chantant, from
Sarah Bernhardt* to Yvette Guilbert* (1865?-1944, of the white dress, long black gloves,
sensual grating voice, singing of crime, cruelty and heartbreak). For the French, the most
demanding and formalized stage is still the artistic and political salon where the postrevolution nobility holds court (like Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, Napoleon's niece who
continues after 1900 when she is in her eighties). A specialized class of Parisians perform on a
wider stage, the world Dumas fils* reveals in his play (1885) Le demi-monde*, the beautiful,
cultured, kept woman and her lovers. Fashion influences every aspect of life from women's
clothes to the new bicycle. Honor is still as important as in the plays of Corneille and duels
are fought with great enthusiasm, spectators and publicity.
Theatre 1885
This year the Meininger Company* tours to Moscow (Russia). They will come back again.
An Italian actress, Eleonora Duse* (1858-1924), who has been doing brilliantly in Italy,
begins the first of her international tours this year. She is off to Latin America this time. She
will come to be known as one of the best actresses ever, especially in realistic works. This
makes her acting quite a contrast to the classical roles and fiery passion of her only
international competitor, Sarah Bernhardt*.
Gilbert* and Sullivan* write The Mikado*. Also in London this year, a new playwright,
Arthur Wing Pinero* (1855-1934), finally comes out with a farce that is popular, The
Magistrate*. He will go on to write some of the best farces in the English language. But he's
better than that and will write other kinds of plays, too.
In France, the naturalistic playwright, Henri Becque*, writes what will become his best
known work, La Parisienne*.
In America this year, Steele MacKaye* builds the New Lyceum Theatre* on Fourth Avenue
where he installs the first electric lighting and begins to emphasize safety devices. He also
starts the first school of acting at the Lyceum, using what he learned from studying with
Delsarte (see Chapter Thirteen). Unfortunately he isn't successful here and he turns it over to
Daniel Frohman* who goes into independent management with his brother (Gustave, 18551930).
1885 Johann Strauss produces his operetta, The Gypsy Baron*.
In the U.S. the 22nd president, Grover Cleveland* (1837-1908) comes into office.
A number of different people in various countries have been working on the internal
combustion engine. This year, the German engineer and inventor, Gottlieb Daimler*
constructs the first high-speed internal combustion engine that can be developed into the
automobile industry. Also this year, the German engineer, Karl Benz,* builds the first
automobile powered by that internal-combustion engine. It has three wheels, an electric
ignition and differential gears. Things are about to take off in this automotive area.
The Americans who are funding the pedestal for that French statue are short of cash, but
Joseph Pulitzer* (1847-1911), owner of the newspaper, the New York World, appeals for the
money and it pours in. The statue arrives (dismantled in 214 packing crates from Rouen,
France) and the process of putting the whole thing together begins.
Theatre 1886
In New York, Daniel Frohman* hires David Belasco* to direct at the Lyceum* theatre where
they will build up a terrific company.
1885-6 - This year Ibsen* continues his use of symbolism* in another play, Rosmersholm*.
1886 In the U.S. this year there is violence in Chicago. The whole thing grows out of labor's
drive for an eight-hour work day. On May 4th there is a demonstration staged by anarchists*
in Haymarket Square* that attracts about 1,500 people. The police attempts to disperse the
crowd (this happens a lot in Chicago). At this point a bomb explodes and the whole thing
turns into a riot. Eleven people are killed (seven police and four workers) and more than 100
others are wounded. This whole anarchist* business is getting really bad press and eight
anarchists* are tried. Even though there is no evidence to tie them to the bombing they are
convicted of inciting to violence. Four are hanged, one commits suicide and the rest serve
seven years before they are eventually pardoned. That labor organization, Knights of Labor*,
is also blamed for the riot, even though they had nothing to do with it. They are a little radical
and their influence will shrink from here on.
Samuel Gompers*' labor organization becomes the American Federation of Labor* this year
and he becomes its president. He will keep trying to tone down, or oust, the radical and
socialistic elements (like the Knights of Labor*). The American Federation of Labor (AFL) is
formed by twenty-five craft unions.
Meanwhile, Anarchists* are becoming a greater problem all over. This year Emma Goldman*
(1869-1940), a Russian anarchist*, emigrates to America. She will be followed, next year, by
a fellow countryman, Alexander Berkman* (1870?-1936). Together they will publish Mother
Earth. She will be imprisoned (and eventually kicked out of the country) for inciting to riot,
advocating birth control and pacifism. He will be considerably more violent.
On the good side, the last rivet is driven and President Grover Cleveland* dedicates the
French gift of the Statue of Liberty* Enlightening the World as a symbol of freedom in New
York Harbor.
The Apache Indian leader, Geronimo* (1829-1909), surrenders.
Also in America, one of those capitalists, Andrew Mellon* (1855-1937), takes over his
father's banking firm and starts expanding. He will become one of the major players in the
country's industrial expansion.
Nietzsche* comes out with his Beyond Good and Evil*.
Germany is in the African territory business, too, and this year they establish the German
protectorate of Togoland (in western Africa, the historic region of Togoland is now partly in
the eastern part of what is now Ghana and partly the Republic of Tonga).
Yes, they are still trying to dig that Panama canal and this year de Lesseps* visits Panama to
cheer them on, despite a terrific death-rate (three out of four who go in the hospital die). They
have a huge celebration to welcome the old man (de Lesseps* is 80) but things don't look
good.
Free Theatres - 1887 This year a terrifically influential experiment starts up, The Theatre Libre* (Free Theatre), a
Paris theatre club, run by Andre Antoine* (1858-1943), opens with a program of four one-act
plays. It is designed for the production of naturalistic plays by French and foreign
playwrights. It is a very small, amateur theatre and they pay particular attention to making the
productions as real and natural as possible. Antoine* has been influenced by the marvelous
work he saw when he saw the Meininger Company* play in Brussels. Antoine*'s group also
excites theatre folk all over Europe and there will be a lot of producers trying to do the same
thing in other countries (see below 1889).
Also in France that consistently successful playwright, Sardou* (best known for writing wellmade plays), is also writing romantic melodramas. This year he writes La Tosca* (which will
provide Puccini with the libretto for his opera, Tosca, 1900)*. He writes this one for Sarah
Bernhardt*, as he has others. She also tours in a lot of his plays.
This is also the year that the Swedish playwright, August Strindberg* (1849-1912), who's
busy traveling all over Europe, comes out with his very realistic play, The Father*. He's
starting on a short, almost naturalistic, period in which he concentrates on denouncing human
moral corruption, sin, crime, abnormality and the battle of the sexes. He is influenced by the
works of Nietzsche*. He's pretty gloomy about this sex battle business because he's into the
first of his three really disastrous marriages. But, his plays excite all these producing groups
that are devoting their energies to the new naturalism.
Gilbert* and Sullivan* write Ruddigore*
1887 There is the Reinsurance Treaty between Russia and Germany to keep Austria-Hungary
from driving a wedge between them. Down in Africa where Britain, France and Italy are
pushing each other for dominance on the northeastern side of the continent, Britain establishes
a protectorate in Somali, and, next year, they will make an agreement with France defining
which one gets which part of Somali. The year after that (1889) Italy will set up a small
protectorate and add some territory from the south. There are no important natural resources
in this area, just the local inhabitants (who would, no doubt, prefer to be left alone) but the
"Great Powers" feel strongly about dividing up the whole world into "spheres of influence"
and "dominance". They are busy doing this in Asia, too, but we'll look at that a little later.
In America, Helen Adams Keller* (blind and deaf) is put in the care of Anne Sullivan*, who
will teach her and become a lifelong companion.
Theatre 1888
This year Ibsen brings out The Lady From the Sea*. He is now moving in his exploration of
the individual to how people can move beyond their obsessions into greater personal freedom
and responsibility.
Strindberg produces two significant plays The Creditors* and Miss Julie*. This last play
(along with its preface) will become one of the most influential plays in the realistic and
naturalistic movements.
Also this year we begin to hear about a Russian author, Anton Chekov* (or Chekhov, if you
prefer, 1860-1904). He is a doctor in Moscow who has been writing short stories. This year he
comes out with his one-act comedy, The Bear. He wrote a full-length play last year (1887),
Ivanov*, but it was a flop. His comedies are very popular. We will hear a good deal about
this man later.
In Russia this year a young actor, Constantin Stanislavsky* (1863-1938), becomes chairman
of the Society of Arts and Letters (in Moscow) where he can produce regular theatrical
performances weekly. He will do everything from serious drama to light opera and try every
style from naturalism to symbolism.
Gilbert* and Sullivan* write The Yeomen of the Guard*.
This year in America, we see the first production of Shenandoah* (a play that's based on the
Civil War). It's written by Bronson Howard* (1842-1908) who becomes North America's first
really professional dramatist and starts the Society of American Dramatists*, (it's the
forerunner of today's Dramatists' Guild*). Playwrighting's beginning to be a full time
profession in the U.S. One of the things to notice about Howard*'s plays is (like other
playwrights we've looked at) they are based on his society's history, in this case American
material.
1888 In Germany this year, the Emperor of Germany dies and is succeeded by William II*
(1859-1941, son of the Hoenzollern emperor, Frederick III* and a grandson of Queen
Victoria*). He is crowned Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia (rules 1888-1918).
Unfortunately for the peace of Europe, Willie (as he is known to Queen Victoria and her
family) can't stand Bismark* because he (Willie) wants to run things himself. It will take two
years but he will finally fire Bismark* in 1890.
In America the weather is pretty terrible. In eastern U.S. March is the month (11th thru the
14th) of the "Great Blizzard" with at least 400 deaths.
Theatre 1889
Freie Buhne* (Free Stage), a private theatre club (they don't have a building of their own), is
started up in Berlin by a bunch of writers and critics who want to do something like
Antoine*'s Theatre Libre*. It's under the direction of a guy named Otto Brahm* (1856-1912)
and the group wants to put on the plays of new writers who are into Naturalism*. They start
up with a production of Ghosts*.
NOTE: [This play is hardly what we would call Naturalism* today, but this is a good place to
point something out. When we talk about style in the theatre we are referring to the way
something is done. This can be the way it is written, or, it can be the way it is designed, acted,
and/or produced. Up to now most plays are produced in the same way they are written, that is,
a realistic play is given a realistic production. Now this is changing. In this particular case
they are taking a realistic play (with some symbolism* in it) and giving it a Naturalistic*
production. Later there will be another producing group who will take the same play and give
it a symbolistic* production.]
This year this theatre group has one of their greatest achievements when they discover a new
playwright and put on his first play. The playwright is Gerhard Hauptmann* (1862-1946) and
the play is Vor Sonnenaufgang* (Before Dawn). He will go on to write about thirty plays and
be regarded as the foremost German dramatist of his day and the best exponent of
Naturalism*. We will look at him again a little later.
The Russian, Chekov*, has another full-length flop, The Wood-Demon *, and another
successful one-act comedy, The Proposal*.
Gilbert* and Sullivan* write The Gondoliers*
In Paris a Belgian poet (who has moved to France) named Maurice Maeterlinck* (1862-1949)
is busy writing mystic and symbolistic plays. This year he creates The Princess Maleine*. He
will go on to write plays, marionette plays, poems, essays and studies. At least two of his
plays will become classics (we'll pick them up as they happen.)
1889 Nietzsche* suffers a mental breakdown and retires to Weimar to be nursed by his sister.
In the U.S., the 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison* (1833-1901) has run what is called the
most corrupt campaign in our history. He manages to squeak in by the vote of the electoral
college, despite losing the popular vote. The U.S. gets its 39th, 40th, 41st and 42nd states this
year, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington. Oklahoma Territory is opened
to white settlement on April 22, and in the next 24 hours 50,000 claims are staked. That really
bad weather from last year continues in the form of the Johnstown (PA) Flood* (May 31)
with 2,200 lives lost.
This is the year Jane Addams* (1860-1935), and Ellen Gates Starr, found Hull House*. This
is a "settlement house" in Chicago. These settlement houses are springing up wherever there
are large numbers of immigrants. The purpose is to provide help, training and guidance for the
poor and to promote social reform. Some of these settlement houses will contribute to that
neighborhood theatre business.
This year the money runs out, the French Panama canal* enterprise goes broke and lots of
investors lose their life's savings. It's the biggest financial failure in history (up to this time)
and the French government falls. De Lesseps* is convicted of misappropriation of funds
(actually, he's just negligent). For quite a while into the future the word "Panama" will mean
swindle, wasted lives and unspeakable national disgrace (remember how the French feel about
honor). The wasted lives business refers to the over 20,000 dead in this ten year attempt.
Actually, the French have done about a third of the work needed, for which the future builders
will be very grateful. One of the French engineers, Philippe Jean Bunau-Varilla* (1859-1940)
will come back later to help it along. But, for now, the technology and medical science isn't
there yet. The whole thing will have to wait.
In America, a former slave, turned civil rights advocate, becomes part owner and reporter for
the Memphis Free Speech. Between now (1889) and 1894 she will become famous for her
antilynching crusades. Also this year, an Italian nun, Sister Frances Xavier Cabrini* (18501917, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Italy) is sent by the
Pope to help Italian immigrants in the U.S. [She will become the first U.S. citizen to be
canonized (as Saint Cabrini), in 1946.]
Theatre 1890
Another popular play by Ibsen* appears this year. Hedda Gabler* deals with a variety of
social dilemmas from the restricted position of women to the contrast between artificial
society and nature. This play is the last of the sub-group looking at individuals. His next batch
will begin in 1892.
Chekov* has a third success with the one-act, The Wedding*. Also in Moscow this year the
Meininger Company* is on tour. This time they are seen by that actor-director named
Stanislavsky* (see above 1888) who is very impressed with their realistic detail and ensemble
acting.
In America we get an important play from that guy James A. Herne* (see above 1879). He
began his career as an actor, then started adapting plays, (some in collaboration with David
Belasco*, also a playwright/actor). Herne*'s play this year is Margaret Fleming* (1890). It
tells the story of a woman, who, upon learning of her husband's infidelity, takes in his
illegitimate child to rear with her own. It is obviously unacceptable to many commercial
managers (the subject matter's a no-no), but it sure is the most realistic drama to come down
the pike so far. [It's also the best remembered of his works in modern times.]
1890 The U.S. gets its 43d and 44th states this year, Idaho and Wyoming (known as the
equality state because it comes into the union with women's suffrage, very unique for this
date). In America this year, Ellis Island*, in New York harbor (now in the shadow of the
Statue of Liberty*) begins to serve as the chief entry station for immigrants. [Over twelve
million will come in the next sixty years. A much greater number are now coming from
southern and eastern Europe and from Asia.
The last big conflict between native Americans and U.S. troops takes place at The Battle of
Wounded Knee*. The troops lose 29, Indian men, women and children lose around 200.
What with all that rampant capitalism, the Sherman Antitrust* Act comes in as the beginning
of federal effort to curb monopolies (one company cornering everything, like Standard Oil).
1890s In Australia, this is the time of the Coolgardie gold rush. It brings an influx of settlers
into western Australia.
Theatre 1891
This year a Dutchman-become-English, Jack Thomas Grein* (1862-1935), has been inspired
by Antoine*'s Theatre Libre* and founds the Independent Theatre Club* in London. The
group opens (at the Royalty Theatre*) with a production of Ibsen*'s Ghosts* in the English
translation by William Archer* (1856-1924). Archer* is a prominent dramatic critic and
author who is really crazy about realism, naturalism, and Ibsen*, in particular. His translation
of Pillars of Society* made possible the first of Ibsen*'s plays to be produced in Great Britain
(1880).
This year that Italian actor Tommaso Salvini* (see Chapter Thirteen) is on tour in Russia.
This time he is seen by Stanislavsky*, who is very impressed by Salvini*'s acting. This
experience will influence Stanislavsky*'s whole method of training actors later.
In France that experimental theatre business is doing well. A poet, director and theatre
manager, Paul Fort* (1872-1960), has been busy reacting to Antoine*'s Theatre Libre*. He
started out with the short-lived Theatre Mixte* (1890) and this year opens the Theatre d'Art*.
He is into symbolic and abstract art and thinks his actors should be abstractions. They are not,
and he will give this up in a couple years. His theories are influential, though.
1891 This year marks Russia's greatest transportation enterprise, the Trans-Siberian Railway*.
It is begun this year as an extension of the rail line running south from St. Petersburg (on the
Baltic Sea), through Moscow, veering east near the Volga river, to Samara (just west of the
Ural mountains, known as the Urals). The Trans-Siberian Railway* is to go east, cross the
Urals to Omsk (the huge Russian coal fields start south of here and spread east), on to Irkutsk
(near the southern tip of Lake Baikal), up toward Chita (this stretch will be finished by 1899).
There it will link up with the Chinese Eastern Railway (under Russian control and running
due east through China to Vladivostok and a branch running south to Port Arthur) which can
carry the fruit of the gold mines of Kara (to the north and east) to waiting Russian ships.
Between 1899 and 1915, an all Russian link will go from Chita further east to the port of
Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan. The entire enterprise (the longest in the world) won't be
finished until 1915, but it is necessary to link European Russia with the Far East for many
reasons. The strongest reason is Russia wants to prevent Japanese expansion in Manchuria.
Russia also wants better access to all those abundant natural resources. In 1800 there had been
only about half a million people in Siberia (the northeastern part of Russia). By 1897, over
five million Russians will have crossed the Urals into that vast land.
In America the government realizes that land isn't infinite and passes the Forest Reserve Act
which lets the President close public forest land to settlement and establish national parks.
Theatre 1892
This year Ibsen* starts to make even more use of symbolism* as he moves on to look at
human relations in situations of crisis and stress. This year his play is The Master Builder*. In
this one he explores the internal struggle between the artist and the human being.
In a lighter vein, the comedy, Charley's Aunt*, by the English actor and playwright, Brandon
Thomas* is keeping them laughing in London. Also in London we find the first successful
farce, Walker, London*, of a new English playwright, James Matthew Barrie* (1860-1937).
He will go on to be a very popular dramatist.
This year in England, the first of a number of successful comedies by Oscar Wilde* (18541900) comes out, Lady Windermere's Fan*. Wilde* has been writing poetry and setting style
as an "aesthete" for over ten years, but his place in literature is secured by his comedies.
In England this year we find a rising drama critic, Geroge Bernard Shaw* (1856-1950),
writing for the Saturday Review*. He is concerned with social reform and had joined the
Fabian Society* in 1884 and become a very effective speaker for them. This year he has a
private production of his first play, Widower's House*, produced by Grein*'s Independent
Theatre Club* in London. Shaw* will have all three of his earliest plays done privately for
these club members only. He is not particularly interested in the theatre but is very impressed
by Ibsen* and his friend, William Archer* (see above 1891), convinces Shaw* to write for the
theatre. He will become the foremost dramatist of his day with a very, very long career.
There is a great deal of difficulty in assigning dates to most of Shaw*'s plays. Widower's
House* had been begun in 1885, is put on privately this year (1892) and will not be seen
publicly for some years because the censors object and his socialist writings and speeches get
him a reputation as a subversive influence. This is often the case with many of his plays.
There is also another date for his works, this is when they are published (these plays will be
published in a collection, Plays: Pleasant and Unpleasant,* in 1898). We will try to chose the
date when the play makes an impact somewhere.
Everyday Ways In 1892:
In the U.S. they are having one of those frequent conflicts between the sheep ranchers and the
cattle ranchers. In this case the cattle-rustlers and vigilante groups explode into a cattle war in
Johnson County, Wyoming. Also in the U.S., everybody is busy trying to build cars. The first
successful gas-powered car with a 4-cycle water-cooled engine, is made by Charles and
Franklin Duryea and a guy named Henry Ford* (1863-1947), builds his first automobile in his
spare time. This will come to be a full time job for him. Telephone service between Chicago
and New York starts. Meanwhile, one of those capitalist industrialists, John D. Rockefeller*,
gives a bunch of money to found the University of Chicago. It is coeducational, progressive
and has a really top notch faculty. It will become a leader in American education and science.
General Electric Company is founded this year, as is Coca-Cola, and, on the non-commercial
end of things, the First Church of Christ, Scientist, is started by Mary Baker Eddy* in Boston.
On the popular sports scene, the first prizefight with padded gloves and the Marquis of
Queensbury rules is held in New Orleans in which "Gentleman Jim" Carbett knocks out "The
Great John L." Sullivan. The popular song scene features A Bicycle Built For Two (Daisy
Bell), After The Ball Is Over, and The Bowery. Tin Pan Alley* (in New York City) is busy
cranking out songs for sheet music, player pianos and the victrola.
There are a number of bitter strikes this year, including one of the worst disputes in U.S. labor
history, when steelworkers at a Carnegie mill in Homestead, PA, demand union recognition.
The company (run by Henry Clay Fick* who has strong anti-union policies) calls in 300
Pinkerton guards to suppress the strike. An armed battle follows and the National Guard is
called in. The whole mess lasts for three months, until the strike is broken and the workers
have to go back to their 12 hours shifts. That anarchist*, Alexander Berkman*, tries to kill
Fick* and gets thrown in prison for the next 14 years.
The chief immigration station becomes Ellis Island* in the Upper Bay of New York Harbor.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes* by Arthur Conan Doyle*, is the first Holmes story
widely read in America. Rudyard Kipling* comes out with his Barrack Room Ballads*
(including "Gunga Din", "If", and "The Road to Mandalay"). The forerunner of the comic
strip is coming out in the cartoons of bears and tigers by Jimmy Swinnerton in the San
Francisco Examiner.
Paul Gauguin* (1848-1903), is busy painting, as are Jean Villard* and Henri de ToulouseLautrec* (At the Moulin Rouge). In classical music we get Pagliacci *, by Ruggiero
Leoncavallo, The Nutcracker Suite*, by Petr Illich Tchaikovsky*, and Te Deum, by Anton
Dvorak*.
1892 This year the German colony of South West Africa sets up its capital at Windhoek. (The
Germans also have a West Africa colony, the Cameroons, in what is now divided between
Cameroon and Nigeria.)
Theatre 1893
Oscar Wilde* has another very successful comedy, A Woman of No Importance*, at the
Haymarket Theatre* in London. Also in London, Arthur Wing Pinero* comes out with a topnotch "problem play," The Second Mrs. Tanqueray*. The English actress, Mrs. Patrick
Campbell* (1865-1940), plays the lead. She is fast becoming one of the outstanding stage
personalities of her era, with a devastating wit and marked eccentricities. She startles the town
in this play, a "serious" play which actually makes money at the box office.
This year Shaw* has his first public production of one of his plays. It is Arms and the Man*, a
satire on romantic views of war. This one will remain a favorite comedy for frequent revival.
(Later it will provide the basic idea for a popular operetta called The Chocolate Soldier*.)
In France that experimental theatre business is picking up steam. This year Aurelien-Francois
Lugne-Poe (1869-1940, called just plain Lugne-Poe for short), actor, director and theatre
manager, takes over the Theatre d'Art* from Paul Fort* (who is giving up because his actors
aren't abstractions). Lugne-Poe renames it the Theatre de l'Oeuvre*. He picks up where Fort
left off, staging poetic and symbolic plays. Fortunately for the symbolic theatre, he is much
better at it than Fort. He throws out the box-set, uses transparent curtains against a painted
backdrop and gets the actors to quit realistic speech and sort of sing the lines of poetry. For
his first production he puts on Pelleas and Melisande* by that Belgian poet, Maeterlinck*.
This play will become a classic symbolistic play (impressionistic, even). Lugne-Poe will put
on the first productions of most of Maeterlinck*'s plays. He will also go on to produce a
number of foreign authors' plays (Ibsen*, Bjornson*, Hauptmann*, d'Annunzio* and
Echegaray*).
This year an Austrian dramatist (like Chekov,a doctor by profession), Arthur Schnitzler*
(1862-1931) produces his first play, Anatol*. He writes interesting views of his contemporary
society in a series of sketches. We will get to his best known work soon (1896-7).
1893 New Zealand passes some of that significant social legislation. This year they grant
woman suffrage (this means the women can vote).
The U.S. goes back to Grover Cleveland* (see above) for its 24th President. This may be
partly due to the actions of the People's (or Populist) Party that draws 22 percent of the vote
(they are for an eight-hour work day, graduated income tax, secret ballot, popular election of
Senators and public ownership of railroads and utilities). This year there is also the panic of
1893, one of those periodic economic burps. This one will drag on into a four year depression.
Theatre 1894
In Germany this year Otto Brahm* (see above 1889) takes over as director at the private
German Deutsches Theater*. The company of the Freie Buhne* merges with this theatre, but
he keeps working on training actors in the naturalistic style with some of the methods he
learns later from Stanislavsky* (see below 1897). An actor named Max Reinhardt* (18731943) joins the company this year. He will become an important figure in international theatre
as time goes on. Ibsen* comes out with another play, Little Eylof*, about the nature of marital
relations and different kinds of love.
In France, a new playwright, Edmond Rostand* (1868-1918), writes a delicious romantic
satire on young lovers, Les Romanesques* [this play will be picked up again in 1960 America
and turned into The Fantasticks*]. It comes as a big relief for all those playgoers who are
getting a little tired of all that drab realism and naturalism. He will go on to produce several
more romantic gems.
In England, that actor-director, William Poel*, (see 1881) founds the Elizabethan Stage
Society*. This group tries to reproduce the Elizabethan stage for their productions of plays
from that period, complete with music (by the Dolmetsch family). These productions will
have a big influence on how people stage Shakespeare* in the first half of the twentieth
century. It's a real change from the archeologically accurate realistic-romantic productions.
The emphasis goes back to the actors and the text and away from all that scenery.
1894 Engels* has edited volumes 2 and 3 of Marx'* Das Kapital* and publishes them this
year.
In France we find the beginning of what will come to be known as the Dreyfus Affair* when
a Jewish officer in the strongly anti-Semitic French army, is convicted of treason. [Remember
that anti-Jewish business discussed above? Well, it's spreading.]
In the U.S. the labor dispute business surfaces in the Pullman strike this year. Eugene Debs*,
an American socialist leader and advocate of industrial unions, is a leader in this attempt to
unionize the railroad workers. He gets thrown into prison. President Cleveland* calls out the
army to break the strike even though the Illinois Governor, John Altgeld*, protests this move
by the feds. This depression business (see 1893) is getting bad and 500 unemployed from the
Midwest march on Washington. Meanwhile, Edison* has the first public showing of his
motion picture machine (the kinetoscope he invented in 1887).
Theatre 1895
This year in London Oscar Wilde produces two plays, An Ideal Husband and The Importance
of Being Earnest*. This last play will become far and away the best known of all his works. It
has enormous wit and elegance and is endlessly revived. Wilde* himself does not fare as well.
Later this year he is sentenced to prison for homosexuality. After he leaves prison he will go
to Paris, broke and in poor health.
In Paris, Lugne-Poe stages Oscar Wilde*'s Salome* at his Theatre de l'Oeuvre*.
1895-7 - Strindberg* is suffering a mental breakdown following a divorce from his second
wife (he calls this his "Inferno Crisis"). This will change his whole playwrighting attitude as
he rejects the philosophy of Nietzsche* and turns to Swedenborg* and mysticism.
1895 The Dreyfus Affair* continues as Alfred Dreyfus* (1859-1935) is sent off to prison on
Devil's Island (a tiny little French penal colony, off French Guiana in the Caribbean Sea,
where life is pure hell).
This year the Italian, Gugliemo Marconi* (1874-1937), is working on wireless telegraphy and
sends signals over a mile.
The Lumiere* brothers create their Cinematographe, a sort of motion picture machine.
Theatre 1896
Oscar Wilde*'s last play, Salome (a one-act written in French) is banned by the censors in
England, but produced in Paris this year by Sarah Bernhardt* (even though Lugne-Poe
already did it in 1895).
Alfred Jarry*'s (1873-1907) Ubu Roi* (he wrote this as a puppet play in 1888) goes on as a
riotous stage production this year at Lugne-Poe's Theatre de OEuvre. It is acted by Firmin
Gemier* (1869-1933), an actor, director and manager, who has his first big success as "Ubu"
in this production. He's a pupil of Antoine*'s, but obviously not stuck in the realistic acting
rut. He'll go on into directing and management later. Ubu Roi* is now considered the
founding play of the Avant-Garde* theatre and a seminal influence on French Surrealism*.
Ibsen*'s play this year is John Gabriel Borkman, about genius relating to society, and
unfulfilled genius.
The Russian playwright, Chekov*, has his final flop with The Sea Gull when it is put on at the
Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. He is so embarrassed by the production (in which
the actors didn't understand the play) he leaves town immediately. A local joke of the time
says that he produced a dead duck instead of a sea gull. He figures this is it and intends to give
up writing for the theatre. Fortunately this does not happen (see 1897).
1896 The Dreyfus Affair* continues to trouble the French as doubts about the evidence
surfaces. It begins to look very much as if Alfred Dreyfus* has been framed for somebody (a
Major Esterhazy) else's crime, because he is Jewish. The worst part is, the French army
suppressed this information. The whole business becomes a major political issue and a huge
scandal (from which the military will never recover).
The U.S. gets its 45th state this year, Utah. The Democratic Convention hears Williams
Jennings Bryan* give his "Cross of Gold"* speech and nominates him for president.
Meanwhile the United States Supreme Court hands down the Plessy v. Ferguson* decision
declaring the "separate but equal" doctrine in Afro-American rights. This will lead to a lot of
problems.
This year in America the first film projection machines show up being used in New York
City.
Theatre 1897
George Meredith*'s (1828-1909) On the Idea of Comedy* and Uses of the Comic Spirit* are
published this year.
That Austrian doctor-turned-playwright, Arthur Schnitzler*, writes Reigen (The Round
Dance, which later becomes known as the French movie, La Ronde*). He claims it is for
private circulation only, but it will be published in 1903 and, later, widely produced).
In London, J.M. Barrie* comes out with another comedy hit, The Little Minister*. This year
is also memorable for a production of Hamlet* starring Jean Forbes-Robertson*, who, by this
time, is regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation.
Moscow Art Theatre*
1897-8 - The Moscow Art Theatre* is founded when Nemirovich-Danchenko** (usually
known by the last part of his name, Danchenko*, 1859-1943), a successful playwright whose
works are done at the Moscow Maly Theatre*, and who is in charge of the Drama Course of
the Moscow Philharmonic Society meets Constantin Stanislavsky* (remember him?). They
decide the Russian theatre needs a new approach, a realistic approach, complete with a new
kind of actor training. They immediately translate their ideas into practice. They have both
been impressed by the Russian tour of the Meininger Company* and by Tommaso Salvini*'s
acting. They plan a theatrical training school and a theatre where they can put these marvelous
realistic theatrical methods on the stage with realistic Russian plays. There are two things they
have to do. First get the school and a company, and second, find some good Russian plays.
The first is easy: they pick the best of Stanislavsky*'s company (who have been working with
him between 1888 and now) and the best of Danchenko*'s students (from his Philharmonic
Dramatic School). They all go off to a country estate and rehearse day and night. The second
thing they need is a good Russian play. For that they turn to a prominent author.
Alexei Tolstoy* (1817-75) is a diplomat and author of a historical, romantic, nationalist
trilogy with semi-oriental imagery which idealizes feudal Russia. It is written between 1861
and 1870. Only the middle play of the trilogy, Tsar Feodor Ivanivich*, is allowed (by the
censors) to be put on as the opening production of the Moscow Art Theatre* (1898).
Eventually the whole trilogy is produced.
Anton Chekov* had written to Danchenko* after his flop, saying "Never again will I write
plays or try to produce them...". But Danchenko* really likes The Sea Gull* and talks
Stanislavsky* into producing it and Chekov* into letting them try it again. Opening night
(December 29, 1898) is a terrific event and, finally, Chekov* has his first, full-length success
and the Moscow Art Theatre* has a realistic style and a Russian realistic author. Both of these
will gain them a world-wide reputation. Chekov* will go on to write a few more plays for this
company. Stanislavsky* will go on to establish an actor training system that will influence the
whole theatrical world. Chekov* writes about the waste and decline of members of the old
Russian middle class society who are clinging to a decaying society in opposition to the
youthful energy and talent of what he regards as the future leaders of the country. Chekov*
claims to be writing comedies because he finds the old society amusing and even ridiculous,
in their inability to see the social changes around them. It may be that his point of view is
shaped by the fact that his father was a serf. Stanislavsky*, on the other hand, finds the old
society sad, perhaps because he is a member of it.
1897 In Africa, Germany turns that protectorate of Togoland into a German colony of Togo
with its capital in the town of Togo.
The U.S. brings in William McKinley* (1843-1901) as the 25th President. He's the one who
gets ahead by the support of "Boss" Hanna* (the Ohio political boss). He's big on protective
tariffs and the gold standard. He'll preside over the highest tariff rate in our history, annex
Hawaii and push the open door (this means we insist we can get in to trade) policy in China.
This year is memorable for the Klondike Gold Rush* (immortalized by Charlie Chaplin's
1924 film, Gold Rush*) in Canada (and on into Alaska) which will draw twenty-five thousand
into the frigid snow over the next two years. One of the by products of the gold rush up north
is that Seattle (Washington) becomes a boom town. It is also the center of radical labor
activity.
Meanwhile, there is another gold boom in Leadville* (Colorado).
Theatre 1898
1898 - Strindberg* is playwrighting again, but now his plays are exploring spiritual reality
and the style is changed. This year his play is Advent. The Swedenborgian* influence shows
in what Strindberg* calls "neo-naturalism". There will be a group of plays that fall into this
style and content range, among them are his four historical plays and Crimes and Crimes* (all
five in 1899), Easter* (1900) and the spectacular Dance of Death* (1901). After these he will
start a new period (which we will pick up in 1902).
In France, that romantic playwright, Rostand*, comes out with one of the most popular
romantic plays ever, Cyrano de Bergerac*. He writes it for the great French actor, ConstantBenoit Coquelin* (see above 1880). Coquelin* is busy acting with Bernhardt* and touring all
over the place, too.
An Italian writer, Gabriele d'Annunzio* (1863-1938), begins writing plays (in addition to
poetry and short stories). One of his best known, La cittmorta*, comes out this year. This
one shows that he's really strong on that Nietzschean* "superman" stuff. He's got a lot of
grandiose vitality in his writing but his plays aren't very good theatre (not very dramatic but
rich in poetry and sensuality). At this time he is widely admired.
1898 New Zealand passes some more social legislation. This time it is social security.
This the year the Spanish-American War* breaks out over Cuban patriots who want to throw
Spain out of their island. The American "yellow press" (this means they tell lies) inflames
American support. Since the U.S. is concerned about the strategic importance of this island in
relation to the projected Central American canal, when they publish a nasty Spanish letter
about President McKinley* and the battleship Maine* is sunk in Havana harbor, the
government really objects. Spain declares war and a naval squadron (under George Dewey)
eliminates the Spanish fleet in Manila harbor (in the Philippines). We also blockade Cuba and
destroy the Spanish fleet there. Meanwhile, back on the island, U.S. troops, led by the wellknown Rough Riders* (who are led in turn by Theodore Roosevelt*) engage in some heavy
fighting on land. The whole thing is soon over and the Treaty of Paris * (December 10)
effectively dissolves the Spanish Empire, frees Cuba (under our protection), gives the U.S.
Puerto Rico and Guam, and we buy the Philippines for $20 million. With all that Pacific
territory, the U.S. annexes the independent republic of Hawaii. All of a sudden the U.S. is an
international power.
In China things are not good. The Dowager Empress Tz'u Hsi*, who would love to get the
foreigners out of her country, is supporting an antiforeign society, the I Ho Ch'uan (meaning
"righteous, harmonious fists" better know to us as the Boxers). The movement begins to grow
and it will create a crisis in 1900 (see below).
The Resolution of the Dreyfus AffairIn January Emile Zola* writes his now famous letter, J'accuse*, to the President of the
Republique. It's published in the newspaper and helps bring the whole Dreyfus Affair* to the
boiling point. They are busy trying Major Esterhazy for the crime for which Dreyfus* is
serving a sentence on Devil's Island. But Esterhazy escapes to England. We now hear that the
evidence in the first trial was forged and the guy who did the forging commits suicide.
Royalists, nationalists, militarists and Roman Catholic elements are all anti-Dreyfus*.
Republican elements, socialists and anti-clerical folks are pro-Dreyfus*. Zola* is sentanced to
jail for libel and has to run off to England. A new court martial is ordered to re-try Dreyfus*,
but the military refuse to admit they are wrong and find him guilty again. The government
finally settles the affair by granting Dreyfus* a presidential pardon. This whole business
unites the French left wing and brings it to power. There is now widespread antimilitarism
and anticlericism. This will really weaken the French army and, in 1905, lead to a separation
of church and state.
Theatre 1899
This year Chekov* rewrites his failed play, The Wood-Demon*, and calls the new version
Uncle Vanya*.
Sarah Bernhardt* opens the Theatre Sara-Bernhardt* in Paris. This is one famous lady by
now.
This year the first book comes out by Adolphe Appia* (1862-1928), a French-speaking Swiss
artist and architect. He develops theories on stage design and, especially, stage lighting, taking
advantage of the newly introduced electrical lighting. He advocates three-dimensional scenery
and mobile lighting which changes and breaks up the direction, intensity and color of light.
He puts his ideas so clearly that directors are able to pick them up and use them in a variety of
different places. His major works are La Mise en Scene* and Du Drame Wagnerien La
Musique et la Mise en Scene* out this year, and The Work of Living Art* (will come out
around 1920).
In Italy, Eleonora Duse* is really supporting d'Annunzio*'s plays. This year she, and her
fellow Italian superstar actor, Tommaso Salvini*, star in d'Annunzio*'s La Gioconda*
In America, an actor/playwright, William Gillette* (1855-1937) opens his most famous play
and role, Sherlock Holmes*. His depiction of the Conan Doyle character will become so
renowned that he'll be able to play it in England to great acclaim, as well as revive it several
times in America. [This play will keep being put on the stage down to the present day.] His
earlier plays, Held by the Enemy* (1886), and Secret Service* (1895), were both based on the
Civil War. Gillette* not only tries for realism in his writings, but in his work as an actor he
aims at creating the "illusion of the first time" in every performance.
1899 John D. Rockefeller* (that guy in the oil refining business) consolidates all his
numerous companies under the Standard Oil of New Jersey. He can do this because nobody is
enforcing those antitrust laws.
Since America is out in the Pacific now, all that foreign greed in China makes the government
nervous (partition of China would really mess up trade), so the U.S. declares the Open Door
Policy* (put out by Secretary of State John Hay*) to make China an open international market
(using Treaty Ports in each nation's "sphere of influence"). This is supposed to preserve
China's integrity as a nation. Almost everybody disregards this, especially Japan.
John Dewey* is busy publishing School and Society backing progressive education.
Theatre 1900
1900 - We finally get to Ibsen*'s last play, When We Dead Awaken*. Like many other
playwrights at the end of his career, he looks at the artist's relation to truth and to life.
Sarah Bernhardt* appears in the title role (a male part of Napoleon II, but all the actresses do
this, they get to show off their legs, so it's called a "breeches part") of L'Aiglon* (the Eaglet)
by that French romantic writer, Rostand* (who wrote it especially for her).
In America we begin to hear about the Schubert Brothers*, Lee (1875-1953) and Sam S.
(1876-1905), theatrical managers and producers. This year they become managers of the
Herald Square Theatre* in New York City. They will go on managing and building theatres
all over. [We still know them from Schubert Alley to the Schubert Theatre.]
In New York, David Belasco*'s play, Madame Butterfly*, opens to great success (yes, it will
get turned into an opera, too).
1900 Mendel*'s genetic findings resurface this year and begin to influence a lot of scientists.
In America, problems with alcohol abuse are so bad that Carrie Nation* is running around
with her famous hatchet, wrecking saloons. In the labor area the International Ladies Garment
Workers Union is founded in New York City. In Cuba (now "protected" by U.S. troops) there
are terrific health problems. A guy named Walter Reed*, an army surgeon, is sent to
investigate an out-break of yellow-fever among the troops. He tries out the theory of a Cuban
physician, Carlos Juan Finlay*, that the mosquito (the female Aedes aegypti, to be precise)
transmits this killer disease. What do you know, he's right! The surgeon's commission will
write up a report next year and the medical knowledge will be in place to try building that
canal across Panama.
In China the Boxers* occupy Peking (the capital and location of the international embassies)
in what the west calls the Boxer Rebellion.* The three month siege is finally lifted by an
international force of British, French, German, Russian, U.S. and Japanese forces. China will
be forced to pay $333 million (a ton of money in these days) in indemnity, amend her
commercial treaties in favor of these foreign nations and (most humiliating of all) allow
foreign troops to be posted in Peiking.
Irish Theatre - 1901 The movement toward nationhood and cultural identity is particularly strong in Ireland at this
time. Theatrically speaking the Irish theatre has been attached to the English for hundreds of
years [since the English conquered Ireland back before the Renaissance]. Now, with national
identity and revolution sweeping the western world, there is a strong movement in Ireland
toward drama and a theatre that reflects the cultural heritage of the Irish.
This year John Millington Synge* (1871-1909) comes out with his first Irish play, When the
Moon Has Set*. He will write six plays of great poetic beauty and be recognized as the
greatest modern Irish dramatist.
Chekov* comes out with his third success, Three Sisters*.
In New York, Ethel Barrymore* (one of those Barrymore* kids) makes a big hit on Broadway
in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines*.
1901 This year, in the U.S., there is another of those unsettling acts of political violence.
President McKinley* has been reelected last year and on September 6th, while speaking in
Buffalo (N.Y.) he is shot by an anarchist* (Leon Czolgosz). He dies a week later. This does
two things. It brings in Theodore Roosevelt* as the 26th President. It also stimulates the
government to come up with some stiff laws about anarchism*, like forbidding entry to the
country to anyone identified as an anarchist*. Teddy (as this president is fondly called) will
go on to make a lot of significant changes.
Also in the U.S., what with all that automobile business beginning to shape up, there is
increased search for oil and the world's first great oil gusher comes in at Spindeltop* (near
Beaumont, Texas, of course). That Italian, Marconi*, sends the first transatlantic wireless
signals this year. Communication is booming.
Theatre 1902
This year Strindberg* comes out with one of his best known works, A Dream Play*. This is in
his new, experimental, dream-like style which is now regarded as one of the beginning strands
of expressionism*. He has been going in this direction with several plays, To Damascus* I
and II, The Crown Bride* and Swanwhite* (1898-1904). The experimental style of these
plays will provide elements for a number of later theatrical movements (including surrealism*
and absurdism*). He will go on into a final phase soon (see below 1907).
Maxim Gorky* (1868-1936) Publishes his first short story in 1892. He will become known as
an outspoken champion of the underdog so naturally the censors object to his work and later
he is imprisoned. Still later he is sent into exile (in Italy).
Chekov* gets the Moscow Art Theatre* to put on Gorky's first play. This is followed by his
best known work, The Lower Depths* which is almost immediately translated and done in
London in 1903. This play is the epitome of horrifying realism*, showing the lives of some
abysmally poor underworld characters huddled in the damp cellar of a Moscow flop house.
This year, a young Russian actor breaks away from the Moscow Art Theatre* and founds his
own company. Vsevold Emilievich Meyerhold* (1874 - ?1940) has trained under
Danchenko* and worked with the Art Theatre since its founding, playing a major role in
Seagull*. He has some interesting ideas of his own on directing and on actor training. We will
follow his career as it becomes significant.
William Butler Yeats* (1865-1939), an Irish poet and dramatist, is best known for his poetic
dramas (in much the same style as Maeterlinck*), and as a cofounder of the Abbey Theatre*
(see below 1904). This year he and Lady Gregory *, come out with their haunting play,
Cathleen ni Houlihan.* [later, Oriental influence will show up in Purgatory* ]
In Italy, Eleonora Duse* and Tommaso Salvini*, star in d'Annunzio*'s Francesca da Rimini*.
In London, The Admirable Crichton* and Quality Street*, by J.M. Barrie* further enhances
the writer's reputation for successful comedies.
In New York, David Belasco* has been so successful that he leases a theatre for his own use,
which he modestly calls the Belasco Theatre*.
Theatre 1903
John Millington Synge* comes out with another important work, In the Shadow of the Glen*.
This year at a Berlin theatre (The Kleines Theater), that German actor (who has been busy
learning to be a good director), Max Reinhardt*, puts on a production of Gorky*'s The Lower
Depths.* He both directs and plays a role in it (the part of Luka). It's a smashing success and
he decides to quit acting and just be a director.
This year a young English director-designer, Edward Gordon Craig* (1872-1966), produces
some fascinating sets for several plays. His work arouses a lot of interest all over the continent
and he will revolutionize design and directing through his work with all the major theatrical
innovators.
1903 This is a memorable year in aviation as Orville and Wilbur Wright* construct and fly
the first successful motor powered, human manned flying machine. This will take off in a
hurry.
Speaking of taking off, Henry Ford* organizes the Ford Motor Company this year. He will
adapt the assembly line to auto manufacturing and become the largest automobile producer in
the world.
Remember that canal the Frenchman tried to build and couldn't? Well, that French engineer,
Bunau-Varilla* has put together a company to build it and Teddy Roosevelt* is working to
get it under way as an American enterprise (funded through Congress). There is a treaty
between Columbia (whose territory it is) and the U.S. to dig it, but Columbia rejects the
treaty. At this point Panama (encouraged by the Frenchman, Bunau-Varilla*) declares its
independence from Columbia. The U.S. supports them (of course!) and Teddy Roosevelt*
recognizes Panama and signs a new treaty (with, guess who, Bunau-Varilla*, who is now a
minister of the new republic). The treaty provides a "Canal Zone" (in which the U.S. can act
as if all the land in the Zone is U.S. soil) and the digging starts.
In England the movement towards women's suffrage is being spearheaded by Emmeline
Goulden Pankhurst* (1858-1928). This year she founds the Women's Social and Political
Union. She also advocates extreme militancy as the method most likely to get women's rights.
She'll spend a lot of time getting arrested and being in jail.
Theatre 1904
This year on December 27th, the Abbey Theatre* opens as the permanent home of the Irish
National Dramatic Society* in Dublin. Synge*, Yeats*, and Lady Gregory* are the directors
and founders. The theatre opens with Cathleen ni Houlihan* (Yeats*, and Lady Gregory*),
On Baille's Strand* (Yeats*), and Spreading The News* (Lady Gregory*). This year, also,
Synge* comes out with Riders to the Sea*.
Shaw* finally becomes a popular playwright with the production of his John Bull's Other
Island*.
One of the actors who had been appearing in Shaw*'s plays (and with Poel*'s Elizabethan
Stage Society*), Harley Granville-Barker* (1877-1946), goes in with J.E. Vedrenne* (18671930, who does the business side) to manage the Royal Court Theatre*. They will produce a
lot of new plays and the works of contemporary European authors (Ibsen*, Hauptmann*,
Schnitzler).* We'll hear more about Granville-Barker* later.
Also in London, J.M. Barrie*'s best remembered play, Peter Pan*, goes on the stage.
Max Reinhardt* takes over the Deutsches Theater* (in Berlin) from Otto Brahm (who resigns
and takes over the Lessing Theatre*). This will mark the beginning of the third great period of
activity for this theatre. Under Reinhardt* it will continue experimental theatre productions.
1904-5 - Stanislavsky* puts on Chekov*'s last play, The Cherry Orchard*. The juxtaposition
of the young energetic entrepreneur (who is the son of a former serf), with the landed gentry
who haven't the slightest idea how to make the best use of their property, is intended by
Chekov* to be wryly amusing, but Stanislavsky* directs it as a sad comment on a lost,
pathetic aristocracy.
1904 Helen Keller* graduates from Radcliffe College (Harvard, for women) with honors,
despite her disabilities. She will go on to write and lecture all over the place.
***************************
Afterword
The Century Turns
Western contact with Asia, a general social feeling called Angst (anxiety, grief), and the crisis
of Christianity usher in Symbolism and all its progeny. The Banquet Years continue unabated
on a heady high. Underneath, the social problems and political storms are brewing. Theatrical
experimentation proliferates and theatre, of all types, booms.
for more information on this period see The Banquet Years by Roger Shattuck, New York,
Anchor Books, 1961.
For a further exploration of the beginnings of Modern Russian theatre: NemirovichDanchenko wrote an account of the founding of the Moscow Art Theatre and his own
philosophy of drama in My Life in the Russian Theatre, 1937.
next Chapter 15
forward to PartFour
home Home
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Experiment and Symbolism
1905-14
Introduction
The arts are into an unprecedented period of experimentation and the whole thing is centered
in France. The Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris had brought the Eiffel Tower and the
1900 International Exposition made the Javanese dancers the rage of Paris. The steady influx
of arts and ideas from the East is finally making an impact. We are into an explosion of
"isms." Impressionism is on the way out and fauvism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, are all
just taking off. They will soon be joined by structuralism, constructivism, dadaism and others.
These are all just ways of indicating the central preoccupation of the painters, writers,
musicians and theatrical artists who are all trying new ways of expression to cope with the
new world.
The world is, by and large, basking in the view that everything, at least on the surface, is
getting progressively better. The European Empires are holding their delicate balance of
power fairly steady so that commerce, industrial expansion, social reform and peaceful
emigration are clicking along.
The Russo-Japanese War* (1904-5) is just ending, giving Japan territories in Manchuria,
including Port Arthur, and making Korea a Japanese protectorate. The other outcome of this
war is the revelation of corruption and incompetence in the regime of the Russian Czar
Nicholas II*. This revelation, together with prevalent social unrest, explodes in January 1905
in the Revolution of 1905*. It begins when troops fire on a peaceful crowd of workers,
marching to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to present a petition to the Czar. Bloody
Sunday* is followed by months of disorders and conflicts throughout Russia. By the end of
the year the Czar grants basic civil liberties and a parliament (Duma), but these don't work
and the revolutionary movement is ruthlessly suppressed. It will explode again later. The
Russians are also busy having another series of anti-Jewish pogroms.
In America, Teddy Roosevelt* has been reelected by a landslide in 1904 and is busy getting
the Pure Food and Drug Act passed and regulating big business by actually using the Sherman
Anti-Trust Law. The Panama Canal is getting off to a slow start, since they have to take time
out to get all those tropical diseases (especially malaria and yellow fever) under control first.
In this decade (1900-1910) some nine million people are streaming into the United States.
Automobiles are pouring off the assembly lines and by 1910 there will be nearly half a
million registered motor vehicles in America.
Europe is continuing to enjoy peace through a maze of alliances (the triple alliance of
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Franco-Russian
Alliance, the Entente Cordiale of Britain and France, the Anglo-Russian treaty and the
German-Ottoman friendship.) Most of the "disputes" and crises will take place in North
Africa and in the still-decaying Ottoman Empire.
In China things are not going well. In the 1894-95 war with Japan, China lost Taiwan. The
Chinese finally realized that they needed to make radical changes after the debacle at Peiking
that ended the Boxer Rebellion (1901.) A modernized state structure, elected assemblies,
modern armies, law code and educational reform are undertaken, together with industrial and
economic changes. However, the conservative Manchu dynasty is determined to hold on to
power and revolutionary groups begin to spring up everywhere.
What with all the increase in anti-Semitism, (remember the pogroms and the Dreyfus* affair?)
the movement for reconstituting a Jewish state in Palestine, known as Zionism*, gets
organized and they held the first World Zionist Congress * in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland.
This effort is led by a Hungarian Jew, Theodor Herzl*, who was a newspaper reporter
covering the Dreyfus* business. He figured the only solution to the rising tide of European
anti-Semitism is the establishment of a Jewish national state. We'll hear a lot more about this
as we go along.
Marxism is now being taken up by some of those discontented Russians. Back in 1895, a
student of Marxism and a labor agitator called (at that time) Vladimir Ilyich Ulyano (18701924) was shipped off to Siberia. He managed to leave Russia in 1900 and took the name
Lenin*. Another Marxist, called (at that time) Lev Davidovich Bronstein, was exiled to
Siberia in 1900. He escaped in 1902 with the passport of one of his jailers, named Trotsky*,
so he keeps that name. These two Marxist Russians meet up in (where else?) London. There
Lenin* puts out his pamphlet What Is To Be Done?* describing how only a disciplined party
of professional revolutionaries can bring socialism to Russia. Trotsky* joins Lenin* in leading
the Russian Social-Democratic Party meeting in London, 1903, and in putting out a SocialDemocratic journal (Iskra). Even in exile these Marxists can't agree and the Russian SocialDemocratic Party splits into two factions, the Bolsheviki* (the majority) and the Mensheviki*
(the minority). The Bolsheviki* want a small party of professional revolutionaries who will
establish a dictatorship of the workers and peasants. The Mensheviki* want a loosely
organized mass party, believing that Russia has to develop a bourgeois-democratic stage
before it can get to socialism. These two factions will clash later on.
This year, when the Russian Revolution of 1905 comes along, both Trotsky* and Lenin*
leave London to join the action. When it doesn't pan out Lenin* leaves Russia again to write
and keep his hand in Social-Democratic party politics in Europe. Trotsky* gets caught leading
the St. Petersburg Soviet* (workers council) and is shipped off to Siberia again. He escapes
from Siberia again and travels, as a journalist, through Vienna, Paris and New York City.
These two will get together in Russia again in the near future.
Democratic reform is spreading. In Germany the powerful Social Democrats and trade unions
accept a sort of revisionist Marxism that downgrades revolution. The British Fabian Society is
about to help give birth to the Labour Party (1906), working for social security and unions'
rights. France already has a 10-hour work day and the separation of church and state. Austria
will get universal suffrage in 1907.
New Ideas
The newest idea floating around and beginning to influence almost everything is psychology*.
A Viennese doctor, Sigmund Freud* (1856-1939), has been working since the 1880s,
developing his ideas about the unconscious, psychoanalysis, and all that stuff. In 1895, he and
Joseph Breuer* (1842-1925) came out with Studies in Hysteria* which becomes the basis for
psychoanalysis. In 1900 he had published his The Interpretation of Dreams*. Other people are
beginning to get into this area, and very shortly he will meet Carl Gustav Jung* (1875-1961),
a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. So this is the time when these new
ideas about the internal workings of the mind (or psyche, or whatever) are beginning to be
widely known.
Another new idea is spreading, too. Anthropology* had finally been put on a strong
foundation in 1890 when Sir James George Frazer* (1854-1941) came out with his
monumental work, The Golden Bough*, a comparative study in folklore, magic and religion.
This is beginning to have a great impact on 20th century thought, especially when Jung* puts
these ideas together with his notions on psychology and comes up with archetype images,
patterns and symbols.
These two areas of inquiry will provide a tremendously fertile field of ideas for the arts. The
whole symbolist movement will owe much to both psychology and anthropology.
The theatre is now moving toward a new way of doing things. Instead of gradually changing
in a specific country, according to the needs and demands of that society, theatre is rising
above nationality and beginning to make specific goals for the art of theatre. This is evident in
an increasing number of publications by theatre practitioners for other theatre folk. It is also to
be seen in any number of attempts in theatrical "schools" and theatres to embody these new
principles of theatre art.
Russia
The Moscow Art Theatre* is a going concern with Chekov*'s last play The Cherry Orchard*.
Stanislavsky* and Danchenko* are beginning to make an international reputation for the work
of this theatre and its school. Vsevold Meyerhold* comes back from three years of
experiments, to head the Moscow Art Theatre* Studio for Stanislavsky*. In 1904 the Moscow
Art Theatre* begins a seven year period of experimentation in symbolism. The
Komisarjevskaya Theatre* in St. Petersburg had opened in 1904 under the management of
Vera Fedorovna Komisarjevskaya* (1864-1910.) It is here that most of the important early
experiments in nonrealistic staging in Russia take place. Meyerhold* will be invited to direct
here in 1906 (although he will be uninvited in 1907) and a number of symbolist plays will be
done.
Ireland
In 1904 the Abbey Theatre* had opened. It struggles along as a subsidized effort giving a
different play each week. There are two conflicting styles at this theatre: a poetic-mythic
(especially in the work of Yeats*) and the realistic-domestic (as in the work of Lady
Gregory*). These two styles combine in the plays of Synge*. By 1908 the Abbey is finally
successful enough to begin paying actors' salaries and royalties to the playwrights.
The United States
In America, the Syndicate* has a strangle hold on theatrical production. In 1895-6 a group of
American businessmen, (Marc Klaw, Abraham Erlanger, Al Hayman, Sam Nixon, Fred
Zimmerman and Charles Frohman*) form an association (also known as the Theatrical
Syndicate) to rationalize theatrical organization and prevent exploitation. However, since they
own or control most of the theatres in New York and other big towns they develop a strong
commercial bias and suppress competition and artistic innovation. They will maintain their
hold into 1911, forcing those who oppose them to resort to second-class theatrical
accommodations (like Sarah Bernhardt* who appears in a tent and Minnie Maddern Fiske*
who must play in second-rate theatres on tour.) Eventually theatre artists will join forces to
break this monopoly. This year (1905,) a rising producing group, the Schubert* brothers
(Sam* 1876-1905, Lee* 1875-1954, Jacob J.* 1880-1963) clash with the Syndicate*, who
close their theatres to the Schuberts*. Since the Schuberts* are a producing group themselves,
they begin to fight back by starting the establishment of a rival chain of theatres.
Mrs. Fiske* champions the new realistic drama and is the first American to give Ibsen* plays
an extensive play for audiences in the states. When the Syndicate* closes their theatres to her,
she and her husband lease the Manhattan Theatre* and, between 1901-7 they produce a
number of outstanding plays in which they strive to subordinate "stars" and develop ensemble
acting. She does more than any other American performer to pave the way for the modern
theatre.
David Belasco has another hit this year, Girl of the Golden West. He is also busy fighting the
Syndicate* from his own theatre.
France
In Paris, Lugn-Po*'s Thtre de L'Oeuvre* is still leading the way in experimentation and
innovation. Antoine*, now working at the Odon*, will be staging a number of seventeenth
century French plays (between 1907-10) in a manner that attempts to reproduce the original
playing conditions and conventions.
Spain
After the war of 1898 there was an effort to revive literature and theatre in Spain. Jos
Echegaray* (1848-1927) writes realistic drama. Jacinto Benavente* (1866-1954) writes in
many styles and forms (nearly 300 works). His Passion Flower* (1913) is his best known
realistic work and The Bonds of Interest* (1907) is his best known nonrealistic piece, a
philosophical work using commedia dell'arte* conventions. Spain also develops an
independent theatre with the Teatro Intim* started by Adria Gual* (1872-1932) in 1898 and
continuing for thirty years at Barcelona. Gual* brings many of the new theatrical trends to
Spain but Spain will have little or no affect on Western theatre.
Great Britain
Grein*'s Independent Theatre and the Incorporated Stage Society have stimulated interest in
the new dramatists and new ways of production but the most significant company is Harley
Granville-Barker* and John E. Vedrenne* at the Royal Court Theatre*. Between 1904 and
1907 this public theatre put all the major new drama before the English public. Thirty-two
plays by seventeen authors will be presented in this time span. The Royal Court* also
specializes in ensemble acting, including some of the best actors of the time. One of the
hallmarks of Granville-Barker*'s direction is the view that the director should give each
playwright's script a thoughtful interpretation, suiting the production style to the script's
needs. Simplicity and suggestion in scenery and acting marks these productions. The major
influence of the Royal Court* productions comes in provincial imitators where repertory
companies begin to start up again.
The major figures of the London stage are still the actor-managers who continue the pictorial
realism traditions of the Bancrofts and Irving. The most prominent actor-managers are
Johnston Forbes-Robertson* (1853-1937), John Martin-Harvey* (1863-1944), and Sir Herbert

Beerbohm Tree* (1853-1917.) These will be the last of the actor-managers. This type of
organization will not survive the coming war.
Simplified staging is found in the Shakespearian productions done by Frank Benson* (18581939). He has been touring the provinces with his own company since 1883, doing six or
seven of Shakespeare's plays every year. After 1900 he gives a few performances in London,
too. He has reduced his scenic background to a few stock settings and puts the primary
emphasis on acting. This helps make simplified staging acceptable to the public and provides
a terrific training ground for generations of Shakespearian actors (since he will continue this
good work until 1933.)
Germany
The independent theatre movement, inspired by the Thtre Libre* (see the preceding
chapter), has been surging along in Berlin since 1889 when it began at the Freie Bhne*.
Organized as a democratic group with a governing council, it had been under the leadership of
Otto Brahm* until 1894 when it ended with Brahm*'s departure to head the Deutsches
Theatre*. There Brahm* continued to develop the realistic mode of production between 1894
and 1904. In 1904 Brahm* invited Edward Gordon Craig* to design a production. 1904 was
also the year Brahm* moved to the Lessing Theatre* where he will work into 1912. The main
emphasis of Brahm* and these theatres lies in developing ensemble actors and designers who
are in tune with contemporary dramatists like Ibsen*, Hauptmann*, Schnitzler* and
Sudermann* (see below under playwrights.)
The example of the Freie Beuhne* encouraged other stage societies to form, creating an
audience for new drama. Some of the socialist groups organize "people's" theatre to raise the
cultural awareness of the working class. The Freie Volksbuehne* was organized in 1890 to
produce Sunday matinees for its membership (1,150 at the start, it will grow to 12,000 by
1908.) In 1892 a similar group, the Neue Freie Volksbuehne*, was launched. By the end of
this period these two will merge. The whole worker's theatre movement is flourishing
throughout Germany and Austria.
Movies
Another entertainment form is beginning to appear. The movies will soon present the most
serious competition the theatre has ever had to face. In 1903 The Great Train Robbery* came
out. This was the first full-length film with a coherent story line. It will take another fifteen
years for the movies to cut deeply into theatre business, after all, they are still "silent." They
will, however, take over the function of providing romance, spectacle and adventure for the
man in the street.
Theatre Theory
This year (1905) Edward Gordon Craig* publishes his first essay, The Art of The Theatre*.
As he points out, theatre is now attempting to discover ways to produce a unity of experience
for the theatre goer. In order to do this, there is a striving for simplicity, abstraction and
essentializing. The theatrical designs by Craig* and Appia*, and their theatrical writings
spread this quest for the new theatre among all theatre practitioners. Another theatre theorist,
(influenced by Craig*'s work for Otto Brahm* in Germany) Georg Fuchs* (see 1907)
publishes The Stage of the Future*, in which he asks for a new theatre architecture to change
the relation between the audience and the actors. He wants to "retheatricalize the theatre" and
unite all the arts in a new kind of expression.
Dance Changes, Too
With all the emphasis on three-dimensionality in theatre, there is a corresponding movement
in the art of dance. Interest in the three-dimensionality of performance space seems to spark a
whole reconsideration of the nature of movement. No doubt the impact of Eastern dance (like
the Javanese exhibition at the International extravaganza in Paris) and Egyptian dances
(which are becoming widely popular) contribute to this reexamination of the nature of dance.
What will come to be called "modern dance" (in contrast to traditional ballet) is beginning in
the work of a number of people. The American, Isadora Duncan* (1878-1927), has been
touring London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna doing her "expressive" dancing. She has already
opened a school of dancing for children near Berlin in 1904. She will have an influence on
theatre through her dancing and her relation with Gordon Craig* (because, when she tours to
Moscow, Stanislavsky* is very impressed by her dance and she arranges a meeting between
him and Craig*.) A similar movement is starting in Switzerland where Europeans are
studying with a Swiss composer, mile Jaques-Dalcroze* (1865-1950), who teaches
something called eurythmics*. This is essentially a system of rhythmic movement developed
as a means of teaching music, but it grows into a system of basic movement skills which
spreads around the world, influencing actors, dancers and educators.
Ballet is about to take a quantum leap forward in Paris, with the work of a couple of Russians.
In 1899 an entrepreneur, Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev* (1872-1929) joined the Imperial
Russian Theatre in Moscow, collaborating with an innovative choreographer Michel Fokine*
(1880-1942) in creating coordinated and well integrated costumes, sets, dances, lighting and
music to the new music of Stravinsky, DeBussy and Rimski-Korsakov. They will soon (1909)
move to Paris and start a company, the Ballet Russe*. These productions will astound the
whole world of dance and impact theatre as well.
Symbolism
All those "new ideas" coming out of psychology and anthropology are getting intermixed with
all of the exciting arts coming out of the East and feeding into the artistic revolt against
realism. The object of symbolist art is to present the "truth" that surface reality obscures.
Symbolism originated as an aesthetic for artistic expression in French literature in the 1870's.
From that beginning it has been spreading throughout art and into theatre. The literary world
picked up the name in 1886 when Jean Moras* came out with his Symbolist Manifesto* and
the term was applied to authors like Edgar Allen Poe,* Charles Baudelaire* and Stephen
Mallarm.* Symbolism in the visual arts and theatre was never a cohesive movement. Instead,
the symbolists are into subjectivity, spirituality and mysterious internal and external forces.
The movement serves to indicate the beginnings of a variety of "isms" running counter to
realism. These will provide the most fertile ground for new theatrical trends in the twentieth
century. Although Paul Fort* started the theatrical work in this area, it blossomed in the hands
of Lugn-Po*'s Theatre de L'Oeuvre* between 1892-97. Lugne-Poe gave up on the
symbolists in 1897 and left the Theatre de L'Oeuvre* between 1899 and 1912 to tour and
write. He also continues to search for viable antirealistic plays and production methods.
Lugne-Poe* provides the major theatrical influence on most departures from realism during
this period.
Playwrighting in 1905
At this point in time it is useful to take a brief look at the current crop of playwrights. Ibsen*
has finished his writing career, but other, equally influential dramatists are all working at the
same time. Some of these are very influential, others are the dramatic giants who will
continue to dominate the twentieth century.
One of the influential writers is Benjamin Franklin Wedekind* (1864-1918) who has been
writing throughout the 1890s: Spring's Awakening* (1891, dealing with adolescent struggle
with sexual awareness, botched abortion and suicide), Earth Spirit* and Pandora's Box* (both
written in 1895 and concerning a character Lulu, the eternal temptress.) These plays are not
widely appreciated in his lifetime, but their mingling of symbolism and naturalism, brutal
frankness and lyrical expression, will gain him a growing reputation. After 1900 he begins to
have considerable influence on expressionists* because of his stylistic experiments and his
rebellion against conventional values. Wedekind* seems to suggest a relationship between
commercialized sex (prostitution) and commercialized art, which he regards as a form of
prostitution which panders to the public's taste for disguised sexuality. He is really
preoccupied with sexual themes and his later plays (Samson*, 1912 and Herakles*, 1917)
almost border on lunacy.
Strindberg* had started on a period of great productivity in 1899, writing history plays
showing the sweep of Swedish history, "Chamber" plays and avant-garde expressionistic
plays. He finally gives up on marriage and on traveling around Europe and goes, in 1903, to
Stockholm to live alone for the remainder of his life.
Strindberg*'s influence, both on European playwrights and on American, will be mainly
through his expressionistic plays (written after his bout with insanity in the 1890s.) He writes
what he calls "dream plays" in which he tries to imitate the disconnected, but apparently
logical, form of the dream (remember that Freud* came out in 1900 with his The
Interpretation of Dreams.) They are very confusing to audiences familiar with the well-made
play. Time and space are irrelevant; the characters multiply, split, vanish; anything can
happen and probability is not tied to the real world, but the the logic of a dream. The dreamer
(in Strindberg*'s plays the dreamer is the playwright) is in charge of everything in the play, so
there are no secrets or incongruities, no external laws apply to the dream. Reality is reshaped
to fit his own subjective view of things. Normally unimportant and commonplace things have
a sense of significance. The real and imaginary merge. Especially in his later plays,
Strindberg* shows great compassion for lost, alienated human beings, who look for meaning
in an incomprehensible world.
His expressionistic plays reveal the stage as the actor's environment (rather than realism's
stage as the character's environment). They concern a direct theatrical representation of
irrational elements in human psychology and human attempts to reconcile irreconcilable
elements, such as love and lust, body and spirit, filth and beauty. He eliminates the rational
plot and throws up a series of poetic images in relation to each other. The audience must
discover meaning for itself and interpret the irrational and mystical qualities of the plays.
These influential plays come out around this time; Dance of Death (1901), A Dream Play
(1902), Road to Damascus (1904), The Ghost Sonata (1907).
George Bernard Shaw* had begun writing plays in 1892 but his works don't achieve much
popularity until the theatrical seasons 1904-7 when ten of his plays are performed in repertory
at the Royal Court Theatre* under the direction of Granville-Barker* and John E. Vedrenne*
(1867-1930). These ten plays are: Candida*, John Bull's Other Island*, How He Lied To Her
Husband*, You Never Can Tell*, Man and Superman*, Major Barbara*, The Doctor's
Dilemma*, Captain Brassbound's Conversion*, The Philanderer*, The Man of Destiny* (a
one-act). Shaw* won't write his last full-length play until 1932, making it forty years after his
first. While his plays do not have the influence on playwrighting that Strindberg*'s or Ibsen*'s
do, he is a major force in the theatre for more than half a century. Shaw*'s comic talents
(known as Shavian wit) and his passion for the Fabian society's socialist views combine to
provide unique theatrical fare. He makes thinking as exciting and as comic as a bedroom
farce. In his plays the interest and excitement comes through the playing off of one point of
view against another until a new level of insight is reached. As each new insight arrives, it is
challenged by still another opposition. The process of argumentation, of dispute, of
contending points of view, make Shaw*'s plays entertaining and rewarding long after their
time.
Chekov* comes to the end of his career in 1905, leaving a modest array of plays. The comic
one-acts, The Bear*, The Proposal*, and The Wedding*, are fine character farce and still
widely done. The full-length plays, The Seagull* , Uncle Vanya*, Three Sisters*, and The
Cherry Orchard* are hailed around the world as masterpieces of realism. These plays are very
different from the realism of Ibsen. Chekov*'s plays depend on ensemble acting (such as
Stanislavsky* provides) because they are not about social problems but the experiences of the
characters themselves in relation to each other. There is nothing of the "well-made-play"
about Chekov*. Character inter-relationships and the environment in which they take place
are much more important than the "story." In this sense, these plays are almost naturalistic.
Granville-Barker* also writes plays. This year it is The Voysey Inheritance*.
German playwrights provided considerable realistic material for the rising working-class
audiences in Austria and Germany: Gerhart Hauptmann* (1862-1946) writes about thirty
plays beginning in 1889 with Before Sunrise*. His best known work is The Weavers* (1892),
a gritty look at desperate workers driven to revolt. Later (1912) his work becomes very
nonrealistic. His basic message is naturalistic, human suffering brought on by circumstances
beyond the control of the protagonists.
Arthur Schnitzler* (1862-1931) is an Austrian, preoccupied with the melancholy worldweariness and shallow sexual attitudes that seems to grip the Europeans of this time. He is a
friend of Freud* and seems to regard sexual behavior as central to human experience.
Hermann Sudermann* (1857-1928) continues to make use of the well-made-play techniques
with popular results. His most popular play, Magda* (1893), provided a terrific vehicle for
Bernhardt* and Duse*.
American playwrights are suffering from the strangle-hold of the Syndicate* and,
consequently, not producing anything new or significant. Clyde Fitch* (1865-1909) is one of
the most successful dramatists. William Moody* (1869-1910) is one of the more promising
writers and next year (1906) will have his first work produced, The Great Divide*. It's a sort
of landmark because it has both exciting action and literary merit. It focuses on the social
"divide" between the society of the East and the rough but open-hearted people of the West.
Theatrical Innovators in 1905

In Berlin the stage now begins to be dominated by Max Reinhardt*. This year he does his first
(he will eventually do 12) version of Midsummer Night's Dream* on a revolving stage. This
allows one scene to flow into another, eliminating the cumbersome set changes of naturalism.
The stage is complete with realistic detailed forest, and a pond, lit from below, for the fairy
dances. Reinhardt* will continue to explore every variety of staging and design from very
naturalistic to very abstract. The German theatre is very busy coming up with technical
innovations to handle all that realistic scenery. In addition to the revolving stage there are the
elevator stages and rolling platforms.
In Russia, Diaghilev* is now the editor of The World of Art* magazine and organizes
exhibitions of art in Russia and abroad. He is very influential in bringing new artists together
and blending music, painting and dance in the ballet.
In America, one of the most influential forces on modern American dramatic literature is
getting started on the campus of Harvard University. George Pierce Baker* (1866-1935)
becomes the first Professor of Dramatic Literature and starts a course this year in practical
playwrighting. It will come to be called '47 Workshop* and will have among its students,
Eugene O'Neill* (1888-1953), Sidney Howard* (1891-1939), George Abbott* (1887- ), Philip
Barry* (1896-1949).
The Unconscious
This year Freud* comes out with Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex.* In this (and
other of his works) he is trying to analyze the functions and structure of the mind so that
abnormal behavior can be treated. His revolutionary emphasis on the unconscious and on
dreams as a key to understanding suppressed desires really give a lot of authority to
Strindberg's* plays. Freud* emphasizes internal, unconscious and psychological causation in
direct contrast to the naturalists who looked to the environment for causes affecting behavior.
The taboos against using aggression and sexuality as subject matter for plays are gradually
breaking down (but not without a lot of resistance.) Terrific possibilities are opened up by the
notion that culturally unacceptable instincts, feelings and behavior are buried in the
subconscious, because this means that there are great disparities between surface appearances
and suppressed realities. The whole idea of truth becomes extremely complex (maybe even
not capable of being known) because of how difficult it is to penetrate our own, as well as
other people's, masks. The unacknowledged and unspoken (subtext) becomes even more
important than the conscious, stated (text.) The chasm between realistic and unrealistic drama
is being bridged by Freud*'s conception of reality which intermingles rational and irrational,
conscious and unconscious, objective and subjective, real and fantastic.
1905-6 The European powers are busy with the Moroccan crisis (letting the French extend its
influence in Morocco) which involves Spain, France, Italy and Great Britain. The Germans,
however, are not happy with this, but the French, etc. are not happy with Germany. This
disagreement will escalate.
1906
In America William Vaughn Moody* (1869-1910) is providing the best examples of
American realism in his play The Great Divide*. In Russia, Vsevold Meyerhold* just can't get
along with Stanislavsky*. This is because Meyerhold* is really interested in some ideas about
the relation between the director and actors he picked up from Edward Gordon Craig* . He
likes to treat the actors as figures to be manipulated in what will come to be known as "biomechanics." This upsets all those naturalistic actors, so he is currently moving from theatre to
theatre and experimenting with the stylized methods of commedia dell'arte*. We'll hear more
about him after the Russian revolution.
In Italy, Craig* designs a production for Duse* of Ibsen*'s Rosmerholm*.
In Germany, Reinhardt* opens a small theatre, the Kammerspiele*, in conjunction with his
larger theatre. This gives him tremendous flexibility in arranging a program of plays in very
different styles. His productions will influence all the state theatres in Germany and, later, all
over Europe and America. Now, for Reinhardt*, each play presents a new opportunity to try a
different style, specifically worked out for that particular production and based on clues found
in the play itself. He's off on a wide range of experimentation like staging Oedipus* in a
circus (1910) and The Miracle* in a cathedral (1911.) He's really big on the director
controlling every thing concerned with the production and he makes a Regiebuch* (a
complete prompt-book) that includes the smallest detail of movement, sets, lights, costumes,
props, sound, etc. He will become famous for helping actors achieve stylistic excellence. He
also works very closely with his scene designers, often establishing a central motif or ruling
idea for each production.
In England, John Galsworthy* (1867-1933) turns from his success as a novelist to
playwrighting, with The Silver Box*. He is big on social problems in a realistic vein.
In Europe Appia* meets Dalcroze*, who will be a great influence on his (Appia's) work.
Appia* had started under the influence of Wagner*'s "total theatre" idea (the basis of his
operas), insisting that all the elements of a theatre work should make up a totality, instead of a
patchwork of script, music, set, costumes, etc. Dalcroze* provides Appia* with an
understanding of how the rhythm embedded in a theatre script can provide a unifying force
for the spatial and temporal elements to create a harmonious whole. Appia* works with
Dalcroze* on a few productions and designs for his school the first modern theatre to be built
without a proscenium arch and with a completely open stage.
1907
Georg Fuchs* (1868-1949) founds the Kunstlertheater* (also known as the Munich Art
Theatre*) in Munich which embodies his ideas about the relation between the audience and
the actors in removing the proscenium arch and providing a sort of indoor amphitheater with a
projecting stage. He is assisted in this by a designer, Fritz Erler* (1868-1940.) This open
stage* kind of theatre will be the coming thing in new theatre architecture.
Max Littmann* (1862-1931) designs a theatre for this project. It is similar to the theatre at
Bayreuth with an acting area that can be extended into the auditorium by covering the sunken
orchestra pit and an adjustable inner proscenium. It has a stage floor that is made up of
sections which are elevators (so you can arrange different levels on the stage) and four
different cycloramas* (each a different color) that can be changed electrically. The whole
thing works backwards from the emphasis Craig* and Appia* are giving to a total, threedimensional theatre because in Fuchs* theatre the actors are put in front of the set instead of
being included as part of it.
By this time the filaments of incandescent lamps are good enough to make it possible to
create the first spotlights (not as bright as the older carbon arc and limelights.)
In Stockholm, Strindberg* founds the Intimate Theatre*, under the direction of August
Falck*, to produce his plays. It has a tiny stage (20x13 feet) and is patterned after the Theatre
Libre*. It will have three active seasons (1907-10).
In Moscow, Stanislavsky* is busy doing an abstract, expressionistic production of The Life of
Man* (by Leonid Andreyev*, 1871-1919). This is a morality play summarizing human
existence by one of the currently popular playwrights. Andreyev* reflects the pessimistic
mood of the Russian intelligentsia after the failed revolution, but, since he is strongly anticommunist, his plays will not survive. Actually, they're too dated to appeal to later audiences.
In St. Petersberg, when Meyerhold* leaves the Komisarjevskaya Theatre* this year, he is
replaced by Vera's brother, Theodore Komisarjevskaya* (1882-1954) and Nikolai Evreinov*
(1879-1953.)
In Manchester, England, the first important provincial repertory company starts up at the
Gaiety Theatre* under the direction of Miss A.E.F. Horniman* (1860-1937.) This will
become known as one of the best companies in England, encouraging local writers, who will
come to be known as the "Manchester School."
In Dublin Synge* comes out with one of his best known and most often revived plays, The
Playboy of the Western World*.
In New York, David Belasco* opens the Stuyvestant Theatre* which he has remodeled with
every modern improvement. He is busy fighting the Syndicate*, staging more impressive
naturalistic details, and being a "star-maker." He is a careful acting coach and depends, for the
success of his shows, on the stars. He's not one of those working for ensemble acting or
building a company. He works one show at a time, with total control (he's much like
Reinhardt* in this aspect.)
1907 Great Britain, France and Russia join together in a Triple Entente to contain Germany
(they think Germany is out to dominate the European continent.)
1908 - Theatre Theorists Publish
This year Edward Gordon Craig* settles in Florence (Italy) where he opens a school and
begins to publicize his ideas by starting publication of his journal , The Mask* (a theatre
magazine, 1908-29,) which will reach readers around the world. Craig* not only edits this
theatrical journal, he also writes extensively for it. Conservative theatrical producers regard
Craig* as just as dangerous (to their outmoded ideas of theatre) as they believed Ibsen* was in
the 1880's. They are right.
Everybody in the theatre seems to be publishing their ideas. This year Strindberg offers his
Open Letter to the Intimate Theatre* giving his views on the art of the actor.
In St. Petersburg, Evreinov* is busy exploring the range of the actor's place in the theatre,
emphasizing theatricality and the grotesque. This year he produces his Apology for
Theatricality* in which he sets out the basic principle for his "monodramas." His best known
monodrama is coming up in 1912.
1908 The Bosnian crisis occurs this year when the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexes Bosnia
and Herzegovina. This worries the other "great powers" (Russia, France and Great Britain.)
1909
Georg Fuchs* publishes another book, Revolution in the Theatre* further expanding his
theatrical theories of a theatre which is built to be a "place for playing."
The Moscow Art Theatre* premiers the symbolist play, The Blue Bird* by Maeterlinck*,
under the direction of Stanislavsky*. This will be one of the most successful of the theatre's
productions. The play is also produced in London this year.
Diaghilev* decides, this year, to arrange a six-week season of opera and ballet performances
in Paris. This marks a turning point in western theatre. For six weeks the impact of the
brilliant amalgam of pictorial, musical and dramatic elements produced by consummate
singers, dancers and musicians rocked Paris. The greatest ballet stars of the century, Anna
Pavlova* and Waslaw Nijinsky* appeared in this company in Paris this year. The art of the
dance is at its peak in Russia at this time, but, until this year, it had not been seen in Europe.
The opera is no less remarkable, with Russia's greatest basso, Fyodor Chaliapin*. The
lavishness of the sets, costumes and properties astonish Europe. The reception is so terrific
that Diaghilev* puts together a company called the Ballet Russes* to tour Europe. During the
next three years Diaghilev*'s opera and ballet conquer Europe. He will add French painters,
composers and poets to his enterprise and it will become international.
The English writer, Galsworthy*, is represented by his play Strife*.
This year Eleonora Duse* retires from the stage after touring all over the world since 1885.
She is regarded as the greatest modern actress, avoiding the use of stage makeup, she has the
ability to make the physical adjustments needed to express each role without external aids.
She will return to the stage and touring in 1921.
By this time Belasco*'s productions are so popular that the Syndicate* has to agree to his
terms when he wants to take his productions on the road. This marks the first significant break
in their monopoly.
1910 - Russia
Between 1910 and 1914, Meyerhold* establishes studios where he experiments with circus
and commedia dell'arte* techniques. One of his experiments turns the whole auditorium into a
performance space where the actors mingle with the audience. [This kind of actor-audience
relation will come up again in the 1960s.] He has actors work up their own scripts and tries
out geometric, patterned movement. The beginnings of constructivism* appears in
Meyerhold*'s experiments that turn the scenic background into an apparatus for acting, a
collection of steps and levels. Meyerhold* believes that the director is the primary creative
force in a production and he is the most persistent explorer of the possibilities and limitations
of theatre. This year Theodore Komisarjevskaya* opens his own theatre and embarks on a
directing career similar to Reinhardt* in eclectic style. However he carries this style business
even farther and gives each character and action a meaningful metaphor. This means that each
production contains a mixture of elements from different periods and styles. [This kind of
direction will come up again in contemporary times.]
This year David Belasco* renames his Stuyvestant Theatre* the Belasco Theatre*. He will
remain here until his death. He continues to lead the fight to break the stranglehold of the The
Syndicate* over American theatre. He is helped in this by the playwright James A. Herne.*
In Ireland, Yeats* no longer writes exclusively for the Abbey Theatre* and begins to
experiment with masks, chants, dance and music, under the influence of Japanese Noh*
theatre.
In France a new wave of experimentation inspired by Diaghilev*'s Ballet Russes* is given
further impetus by the publication of Jacques Rouch*'s Modern Theatre Art*. Rouch*
describes all the experimentation in Germany and Russia, as well as the ideas of Craig* and
Appia* and calls for similar experiments in France. He doesn't wait for others to take his
advice and starts trying experimentation himself at the Thtre des Arts* (between 1910-13.)
He is the first French director to be eclectic, seeking to simplify and evoke a milieu and a
mood through color and line.
New Connections, New Starts - 1911 This year the Abbey Theatre* tours to New York City, providing the American theatre with
some ideas about performing and about playwrighting. In Great Britain, Edith Craig* (18691947), Ellen Terry*s daughter and sister of Edward Gordon Craig*, turns from acting to
production and begins directing the Pioneer Players*. In Liverpool another vigorous
provincial repertory company starts up. In Russia Stanislavsky* founds the First Studio* to
train students and work out theatrical problems that arise. It is under the direction of Leopold
Sullerzhitsky* (1872-1916) and is also designed to encourage nonrealistic approaches to
production. Several future theatrical leaders get their training here, Richard Boleslavsky*,
Mikhail Chekhov* and Yevgeny Vakhtangov*.
In Paris, a dramatic critic-turned-director, Jacques Copeau* (1879-1949,) has his adaptation
of The Brothers Karamazov* produced at the Thtre des Arts.
1912
This is the year Strindberg* dies. By this time he is one of the most famous dramatists in the
world, not for the popularity of his plays (they are never widely popular) but for the
controversy and inspiration they engender. His view of human beings as tortured and
alienated will attract many later writers. He leads the way in developing dramatic devices that
show how psychological and spiritual states can be revealed on the stage. He is the first
playwright to make a lot of use of the unconscious and this will be a major influence on later
playwrights.
Also this year, Hugo von Hofmannsthal* (1874-1929), who started in the 1890s writing neoromantic plays, has come to believe that words are meaningless and is now reworking older
theatre pieces. He did an Elektra* in 1903, and this year he comes out with Everyman*. Last
year (1911) he wrote (with Richard Strauss*) an opera libretto, Der Rosenkavalier*. Some of
his plays become classics and are regularly presented at the Salzburg Festival. Later (1922)
he will write The Great World Theatre*.
Max Reinhardt* brings America his first touring production, Sumurum*. It is a poetic staging
of an Arabian Nights story with settings by Ernst Stern* (1876-1954).
In Moscow, Stanislavsky* is very impressed by Edward Gordon Craig* and hires him to
design and direct an abstract production of Hamlet*. It doesn't get done the way Craig* wants
it to and Stanislavsky* has to finish it. It's a fascinating production, a controversial success
and a landmark of the modern theatre. It makes a deep impression on Stanislavsky*, causing
him to change some of his basic ideas about acting.
In St. Petersburg, Evreinov* puts on his most famous monodrama, The Theatre of the Soul*.
He is also busy experimenting with a variety of styles and running two of the most noted
cabaret theatres of the time.
In Paris this year, the first play of Claudel* (1868-1955) to be seen on the French stage, The
Tidings Brought to Mary*, is put on by Lugne-Poe*'s Theatre de L'Oeuvre* (which is
reopened this year.) Claudel* writes a poetic drama for a form of total theatre that hasn't
really developed yet. Experimental staging is required for all his plays.
Edith Craig*'s Pioneer Players* do two plays by Claudel*, The Tidings Brought to Mary* and
The Exchange*.
This year in America, Belasco* reaches the peak of naturalistic detail in his production of The
Governor's Lady*. It takes place in a Childs Restaurant which he reproduces on the stage of
the Belasco Theatre* and has it stocked with food every day by the Childs chain so the actors
can eat it during the performance.
1912-13 The Russian-sponsored Balkan League pushes the Turks out of Europe in the Balkan
Wars. This replaces Turkey-in-Europe with a bunch of dissatisfied, mutually antagonistic
Balkan states. What we have here is a highly unstable situation, ready to explode.
1913
By this time 1000 watt spotlights and color media are in common use in theatre lighting.
Footlights are beginning to be replaced by spotlights mounted in the house.
Mary Wigman* (originally Marie Wiegmann, 1886-1973), a German, trained in eurythmics,
refuses a job in ballet and starts a career dancing in what will become "modern dance."
In France, Jacques Copeau* comes out with a manifesto for a new theatre. His views are
directly opposite to those of Meyerhold*. Copeau* argues that the director's job is to
faithfully translate the playwright's script into the "poetry of the theatre." The actor is the only
essential theatrical element, and is primary as the "living presence" of the author. Copeau*
wants to return to the bare platform stage. In order to put his ideas into action, he takes over
the Theatre du Vieux-Columbier* and converts it into a design based on Craig*'s architectural
model of the ideal theatre. It seats only 400 and has a forestage, architectural steps and
platform and a set of basic curtains that can be moved on rods to indicate changes in scene.
Although Copeau* is interested in Antoine*'s innovations, he doesn't like the realistic theatre.
He wants to bring back the "true beauty and poetry" of the French stage. He will spend a lot
of his time training actors and influencing European and American theatre.
In Birmingham, England, the Birmingham Repertory Company* gets off to a good start. It
will become influential after the war. In America, the fight between the Syndicate* and the
Schuberts* reaches its peak and the grip of the Syndicate* is broken. Now the Syndicate*
was a cooperative arrangement among independent businessmen, but the Schuberts* had a
new type organization, a corporation, and they have bought or built so many theatres around
the country that they are rapidly becoming a monopoly. Local managers who are fed up with
the high-handed methods of the Syndicate* are happy to switch to the Schuberts*.
1914
In London, the actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree* (1853-1917) produces Shaw*'s
Pygmalion*. It's a resounding success. In Paris, Jacques Copeau* stages The Exchange* by
Claudel*, at his Theatre du Vieux-Columbier*. Also this year Claudel*'s The Hostage* goes
on at Lugne-Poe's Theatre de L'Oeuvre*. (Edith Craig* will produce this one in 1916 for the
Pioneer Players*.)
In New York City, a play-producing society is founded, called the Washington Square
Players*. Their first program of one-acts is put on at the Bandbox Theatre*. Some of the plays
are written especially for the occasion. This group will help spearhead a new theatre
movement in America.
In Russia, Alexander Tairov* (1885-1950) opens his own theatre, the Kamerny * (the
Chamber Theatre) in Moscow. He is into making theatre something like the sacred dances in
an ancient temple. Rhythmical movement and the actor as the basic creative force in the
theatre are the focus of his work. His settings are architectural, steps and levels. His work
produces theatrical productions closer to ritual than the usual experimental performances.
In Germany, in the Dresden State Theatre*, a complex scenery-shifting arrangement is
installed by Adolph Linnebach* (1876-1963). This combines sliding platforms with elevators,
flying scenery, small wagons and manual shifting.
In many German theatres of this period there are also plaster domes (kuppelhorizont*) that
curve around and above the stage and eliminate the need for a lot of upstage masking pieces.
It is designed to give the impression of infinite space.
1914 This year marks the end of one period of history and the beginning of another. The heirpresumptive to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo by
Bosnian terrorists. Vienna (Austria) decides it's now or never (if they want to reestablish
themselves as a great power) and Germany, alarmed by that "encirclement" of France, Great
Britain and Russia, decides to support Austria. The "guns of August" start firing. Everybody
expects a short war, over by Christmas, and, fought in the old way, with gallantry, dash,
flourishing cavalry assaults when the evenings can be spent enjoying the admiration of
civilians and civilized the benefits of dinners and dances. They are very wrong.
The Germans plan to encircle the French armies before the Russians get mobilized, but the
Russians invade East Prussia. In the West (in contrast to the Eastern frontier where the
Germans are fighting the Russians,) the Battle of the Marne sets Germany back and the year
ends with the Allies and the Germans failing to outflank each other in Flanders.
In the West, both sides are now dug in (in interconnected sections of "trenches") along a 400
mile line from the English channel to the Swiss frontier. The major combatants are the
"Allies" (Great Britain, France, Russia, and later, Italy, Japan, Romania and Greece) against
the "Central Powers" (Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.)
Afterword
This war makes an enormous difference to the theatre and not merely because it is a world
war and, consequently is fought in the countries and cities that are major theatre centers. The
war shatters the illusions of Western society and leaves much of the West in economic and
political ruin. In Russia there will be "the" Revolution," in Germany and Austria the ruling
houses will be swept out and crushing reparations imposed. Only America is untouched by the
decimation of the war and the European disillusionment. The next period will see the
emergence of American theatre and a total reconstruction of European theatre.
next Chap16
forward to PartFour
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The War To End All Wars
And After 1914-1925
Introduction
We left the war at the end of 1914. Since the Allies and the Germans are failing to outflank
each other in Flanders, they are now dug in their "trenches" along that 400 mile line from the
English channel to the Swiss frontier. Obviously the war won't be over anytime soon. It has
been more than half a century since the last major European war and no one seems to have
noticed that the nature and fabric of war has changed significantly since them. Europe
apparently didn't notice the U.S. Civil War, which marked the beginning of modern total
warfare with mass armies and the employment of total resources on both sides.
The Industrial Revolution led to a technological leap in weapons of war as well as commercial
products. In Germany, Alfred Krupp* (1812-87), known as the "cannon king," has left his
descendants a huge armament empire that turns out an endless supply of state-of-the-art
armament. We are into the era of mechanized warfare and much of this is being used
extensively for the first time on a large scale.
The trench warfare becomes necessary to protect troops from the machine gun [Around 1900
a whole bunch of new automatic weapons were introduced. The heavy "Gatling" gun, used in
the U.S. Civil War, has become a more modern, rapid-fire, machine gun.] which reaches its
full potential in this war. Other rapid-fire small arms, like the revolver and magazine-loading
rifle, have been around for thirty years, or so, but this is the first large war in which they are
standard issue for armies.
There is enormously improved artillery [breech-loaded, rifled and shell-firing.] These heavy
guns are long-range and many are field-artillery, capable of rapid mobility on rail cars, pulled
behind trucks and self-propelled.
The tank comes into use only near the end of the war, essentially as a means of bridging the
trenches and enabling the infantry to move up with the protection of this mobile artillery
piece, protected by heavy armor. This little military advancement will turn up as one of the
dominant features of the next war.
Naval power is awesome, particularly since it now includes the submarine [The first one
invented for combat use was in 1776, by an American, David Bushnell but it has been vastly
improved over the years. The U.S. Navy's E-boat, American diesel-engine, went into service
in 1912.] The submarine is being used extensively by both sides, but, it is the German 2000ton U-boats that inflict heavy damage on Allied shipping.
Air power is showing up for the first time in two forms:
The dirigible (or airship) is available in two forms, the non-rigid (blimp) and the rigid. The
first successful power-driven airship had been built by the French inventor, Henry Giffard, in
1852, but the German, Count Ferdinand von Zepplin* (1838-1917) invented the first rigid
airship, completed in 1900 and, by 1906, he produced one that could travel at 30 m.p.h. In this
war these are used militarily for dropping bombs as well as providing observation platforms
for directing ground action.
The airplane has improved so much that this war makes use of the modern air force for the
first time. The number of planes involved is small (by later standards) but they are very
effective in terrorizing ground troops as fast-moving firing platforms, equipped with machine
guns, and capable of dropping bombs (in a rather inaccurate and primitive way.) The use of
airplanes for reconnaissance and spotting for artillery also contributes to bigger and better
warfare for both sides.
The most sinister technological advance used in warfare shows up in chemical warfare. A
German chemist named Fritz Haber* (1868-1934) directs Germany's chemical warfare
activities, including the introduction of poison gas (chlorine and mustard gas.) Since, once gas
is released, the gas clouds move with air flow, heavy casualties are inflicted on both sides.
What with one thing and another, this is going to be a very sticky period in world affairs.
Everybody's ideas of almost everything will undergo complete change and the key terms for
this period are the German words, angst* (a feeling of anxiety, dread and anguish) and
weltschmertz* (literally, "world pain," it arises out of a comparison of the real world with the
ideal.) We get these words as universal terms since the German language has been
specializing in all that psychology stuff.
In America, everybody is busy trying to mind affairs over here. The enormous immigration
since the Civil War has created an American population from just about everywhere. There
are big populations of first-generation citizens from each of the European belligerents. The
watch word is isolationism and everybody intends to leave the fighting up to the Europeans.
After all, isn't war one of the things all these people came here to escape? The main
preoccupations are getting a piece of the American Dream and making money. Woodrow
Wilson* (1856-1924, the 28th president) is in the White House and is busy pursuing his
progressive domestic policy to help make this possible. His foreign affairs problems are
beginning to get out of hand as the World War keeps intruding. The sinking of the Lusitania*
in 1915 makes American neutrality a very shaky tightrope to walk.
In Ireland things are moving toward civil war. On and off for many years there have been
attempts to secure "Home Rule" from Great Britain. It keeps not working and the Irish are
finally fed up. The Easter Rebellion of 1916 begins the bloody process of returning at least a
part of Ireland to the Irish.
In Europe things are not good. The war is not popular with anybody, but they're stuck with it
now. This is the first "total war" in Europe. Everybody is mobilized, either to fight or to
produce for the war effort. Civilian populations are being shot, burned and blown up just like
the soldiers. Not only are there the war problems, politically there are real tensions among and
between the old-line royalist conservatives, republican conservatives, democrats of all stripes
and socialists of even more varieties. By the end of the war these will make a real difference
politically.
In China the struggle between political forces continues. After the 1911 revolution, a Chinese
political party, the Kuomintang*, was organized in 1912 to succeed the Revolutionary
Alliance. It gained the majority in the first national assembly elected in China. A student of
Marxism*, Sun Yat-sen* (1866-1925) had been elected the provisional president of the
Chinese Republic. He soon resigns in favor of Yuan Shih-kai* (1859-1916, actually he's the
guy who was supposed to defend the Ch'ing empire against the revolution, but he quit that.)
He (Yuan) turns pretty dictatorial and in his last year (1916) briefly calls himself emperor.
Obviously there will be more turmoil in China as this period goes on.
In Japan They are basking in international prominence (after their successes in the First SinoJapanese War, 1894-5, the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902, the Russo-Japanese War 1904-5,
and, most recently, the 1910 annexation of Korea.) At the moment they are avoiding the
European conflict and concentrating their attention on the mainland, especially China (see
below, 1915) and Manchuria.
The empires of Great Britain and France are providing men and material for the European war
effort and getting promises of future self-government of one sort or another. The eastern
empires are not directly involved, but in Africa there are direct military confrontations taking
place.

Marxism is now being taken up as a serious solution by those discontented Russians, Lenin*
and Trotsky*, who are waiting around in exile, writing, organizing and planning for their
return when the moment is right. They are ardent Bolsheviks* (remember, these are the guys
who want a small party of professional revolutionaries who want to establish a dictatorship of
the workers and peasants.) Meanwhile, in Russia, there are plenty of various socialist and
democratic factions organizing and planning, too. The Mensheviks* (remember these guys?)
want a loosely organized mass party, believing that Russia has to develop a bourgeoisdemocratic stage before it can get to socialism.
Marxism and other more or less extreme forms of socialism are showing up in well organized
forms all over the world.
Fascism, a philosophy of government that glorifies the nation-state at the expense of the
individual is showing up all over, too. This system is vehemently opposed to democratic and
socialist movements, includes racist ideologies ("our ethnic group is best" and "everybody
else is subhuman") has aggressive military policy, believes in a strong, authoritarian leader
who embodies the ideals of the nation. Fascism* picks up all kinds of popular support by
promising social justice to the discontented workers and middle class, while promising social
order to the powerful capitalist interests. These guys are big on maintaining strict class
divisions, protecting the landowners and capitalists. A fascist state is into complete control of
all levels of individual and economic activity. There is always a special police force (or
forces) to put fear into everybody and keep them toeing the mark. This system gets its name
in Italy during this period and becomes attached to the rising movements in Germany and
Spain. However, it continues as an active force in many right-wing movements.
Theatrical State as the War Begins
Russia
In Russia, Alexander Tairov* (1885-1950) opens his own theatre, the Kamerny * (the
Chamber Theatre) in Moscow. He is into making theatre something like the sacred dances in
an ancient temple. (He may have gotten some ideas from Isadora Duncan* and Dalcroze*,
with his eurythmics*.) Rhythmical movement and the actor as the basic creative force in the
theatre are the focus of his work. His settings are architectural, steps and levels. His work
produces theatrical productions closer to ritual than the usual experimental performances.
Ireland
Yeats*, who no longer writes exclusively for the Abbey Theatre* is busy with masks, chants,
dance and music, under the influence of Japanese Noh* theatre. In 1917 he comes out with
one of his best, At the Hawk's Well*. The Abbey Theatre* has been full of dissension and by
1915 it is not the theatrical force it was. It will resurface as a vital force in the twenties.
Meanwhile the country is caught up in nationalist civil war.
The United States
The big thing in the commercial theatre is still the revue* (songs, sketches, dances,
monologues, usually topical in nature.) The big name is Ziegfeld*'s Follies (since 1907) with
its star (since 1910,) Fanny Brice* (1891-1951), a singer, comedienne specializing in
impersonations. There is also the Winter Garden Theatre* (with Al Jolson* (1883-1950) since
1911. Musicals are in their infancy since George M. Cohan* (1878-1942) has been writing,
directing and starring in many since his first success in 1904 (Little Johnny Jones*.) Irving
Berlin* (1888-1989) has been writing regularly since his first big hit in 1911 (Alexander's
Ragtime Band*.)
Far away from the commercial producers, numerous "little" theatres are beginning to pop up.
These are modeled on Antoine*'s "Free theatre" and Strindberg's* "Intimate Theatre." It is in
these amateur theatre groups that the European theatre movement is being given a fair hearing
throughout the country. Run by unpaid personnel and financed by local subscribers, the little
theatres are creating new looks in stage design and play content. Among the most important
of these theatres are the Toy Theatre* in Boston and the Chicago Little Theatre*, both
established in 1912.
You may remember that in 1914, in New York City, a play-producing society is founded,
called the Washington Square Players* and that they will help spearhead a new theatre
movement in America.
American theater is given a boost when colleges begin offering theatre courses. Prior to 1900,
the only theater in schools of higher learning were assorted student productions, but in 1903,
George Pierce Baker* (1866-1935) began teaching a course in playwrighting at Radcliffe
College. In 1913 the course was enlarged to include a workshop for the production of plays,
and in 1925 Baker* will move to Yale where he will establish a drama school. Among
Baker*'s workshop students are Eugene O'Neill*, S.N. Behrman*, Thomas Wolfe* and
Robert Edmond Jones*.
In 1914, the Carnegie Institute of Technology offers the country's first degree-granting
program in theatre. About the same time, Fred Koch* (1877-1944,) begins teaching
playwrighting and play production at the University of North Carolina, working with the
Carolina Playmakers*. This group will tour from Georgia through North Carolina, stimulating
interest in folk drama, fostering the first good plays about the Southern States (around 1923.)
France
In Paris, Jacques Copeau* stages The Exchange* by Claudel*, at his Theatre du VieuxColumbier*. Also this year Claudel*'s The Hostage* goes on fat Lugne-Poe's Theatre de
L'Oeuvre*. (Edith Craig* will produce this one in 1916 for the Pioneer Players*.) WWI
pretty much closes down the theater in France. Actors are drafted into the army or they are
entertaining the army. Casts are filled with students from the Conservatoire, and popular
entertainment dominates the "boulevard theatres". Some directors continue, after a fashion.
Jacques Rouche becomes the director of the Opera between 1914 and 1936 where he
continues to present simplified set designs. As the war gets worse, some theatre artists will
tour to America to keep their work alive.
However, new movements are underway. In 1916 Dada* bursts on the scene and, by the end
of the war, surrealism is the "in" thing, the "new" theatre.
Great Britain
1914 - In London, the actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree* (1853-1917) produces
Shaw*'s Pygmalion*. It's a resounding success.
The "Old Vic*", as the Royal Victoria* theatre is now called, becomes a Shakespearian
repertory theater under the determined and brilliant management of Lilian Baylis* (18741937.) The company will produce all Shakespeare's* plays It remains the principal producer
of English classic plays with its own permanent company and a policy of providing fine plays
at reasonable prices. The most distinguished actress of the time, Sybil Thorndike* (18821976), is at the Old Vic* all during the war (1914-18) playing not only most of Shakespeare's
heroines, but also (due to the absence of male actors off at war) many male leads (Prince Hal,
Puck, the Fool in Lear and Launcelot Gobbo.)
As the war ends, we will find that the English theatre between the wars is the least changed of
all European theatre. Much of the innovation showing up in France and Germany never
crosses the Channel into England's major theaters, but crops up in the English provinces and
private theaters. One major change comes with changing economics and audiences, this is the
demise of the actor-manager system and the beginning of the long run.
Germany
The primary creative theatrical force in Germany continues to be Reinhardt, through his
management in Berlin of the Deutsches Theatre and Kammerspiele. He will remodel the
Circus Schumann into a huge theatrical space (seating over 3,500) called the Grosses
Schauspielhaus*. He will be using this big space for monumental productions that will be
monumental failures (between 1919-22.) In Germany, in the Dresden State Theatre*, a
complex scenery-shifting arrangement is installed by Adolph Linnebach* (1876-1963). This
combines sliding platforms with elevators, flying scenery, small wagons and manual shifting.
In many German theatres of this period there are also plaster domes (kuppelhorizont*) that
curve around and above the stage and eliminate the need for a lot of upstage masking pieces.
It is designed to give the impression of infinite space.
As far back as 1912, Expressionism* began making inroads into German theater when
Reinhard Johannes Sorge* (1892-1916, a follower of Neitzsche) publishes The Beggar*, the
first true expressionist play, showing the struggle of a visionary poet to achieve fulfillment in
a materialistic society. It won't be produced until 1917 when Reinhardt* will do it.
Walter Hasenclever*'s (1890-1940) The Son*, is produced this year (1914) depicting
(symbolically) the need to rid the world of its old values and make way for the 'new man'.
With the start of the war, expressionism* begins making pleas for mankind to change its
ways. Hasenclever* produces Antigone* in 1916, advocating the overthrow of autocratic
leaders. Due to the strict censorship, few expressionist plays are produced, but after the war,
expressionism flourishes.
Movies
The movies are beginning to present the most serious competition the theatre has ever had to
face. After the War the movies begin to cut deeply into theatre business, especially in
America where there is no state-subsidized theatre. Movies are beginning to take over the
function of providing romance, spectacle and adventure for the man in the street. By the mid-
twenties sound comes to the "silent screen" and, by the end of our period, color will become
available.
The Latest Non-realistic Movements:
Cubism, Futurism, Suprematism, Dadism, Constructivism, Surrealism
Cubism* has been the most important art movement starting off the twentieth century
(running 1907-1914 in France.) It stands as the first revolutionary break with traditional
painting and the beginning of abstract art. Cubism* involves a new way of looking at things
that forces a complete reappraisal of Western concepts of form, space, and color in art. This
begins the placement of "meaning" in the mind of the viewer who must become an active
participant in the art experience.
Suprematism* has been brewing in Russia, first propounded in 1913 by the artist Kasimir
Malevitch* (1878-1935.) This is non-objective form, an austere, geometrical extension of
Cubism*. In 1915, Malevitch* comes out with a manifesto entitled Cubism, Futurism,
Suprematism*. It's only a small little movement and is closely allied with Constructivism*
and Non-Objectivism*. The Suprematist ideas filter into Germany during the first World War
and provide a very important influence in advanced Bauhaus* circles.
Futurism* flourishes in Italy between 1909 and 1916, embracing all the arts. It expresses the
great surge of nationalism in Italy and reflects a commitment to new machine technology and
the violence and dynamics of the modern city life. This one is more of an outlook than a
specific set of principles and becomes an international movement linked with developments in
Cubism* in France. It's also pretty big in northern Europe.
Constructivism* begins as a movement of geometric abstraction (mainly in Russia) between
1913 and 1922. This one is more reflective of the revolutions in science, technology, social
and political thought. This movement is immediately picked up by architecture and theatre.
Dadism* pits the world of the irrational against the rational as a protest concerning the idea of
"meaning" in art. This movement is big in Switzerland and the United States. Manifestations
begin to appear in several countries around 1915 and 1916. Zurich and New York City, each,
have a large enough group of practitioners to make a real mark on modern art. [We might note
that the Dadist* "loves the Absurd" which will have theatrical implications after the Second
World War.] Mainly, this movement depends on a refusal to have any coherent set of
principles.
By the end of the War, the newest non-realistic movement to attract a large following in most
of the arts (painting, literature and theatre) goes by the name of Surrealism*. It takes over the
outgoing Dada* movement and works toward a fusion of the irrational and the rational as a
way of reaching a new level of awareness. The French poet, Andre Breton* (1896- ?, a
member of the Dadaists) is regarded as a founder of Surrealism* (also called the "Pope of
Surrealism*".) The idea is that in the future, resolution of the states of dream and reality can
be achieved in a sort of absolute reality, a surrealite. There is a belief that what with the new
Freudian method of psychoanalytic interpretation, such techniques can be used to bring forth
and illuminate the unconscious. The first big splash will come in 1917 (see below.)
Time moves on - 1915-16
1915 - The little theatres Neighborhood Playhouse* and the Washington Square Players* are
both founded in New York this year.
1915 In May the Germans make a major, and unsuccessful, assault on the British at Ypres (in
southwest Belgium) and use poison gas for the first time. The Russians are doing very badly
and Serbia and Montenegro fall to the Central Powers* by the end of this year. In Turkey, the
Gallipolli campaign is a disaster for the Allies* In the Middle East, T. E. Lawrence* (18881935, later known as "Lawrence of Arabia") is busy stirring up an Arab revolt against Turkey.
Although America is still neutral, it becomes a much more fragile neutrality when the German
submarines sink the British ship, the Lusitania*, with lots of Americans on board.
Meanwhile, in the Far East, Japan comes up with an ultimatum it secretly presents to China
(the "Twenty-one Demands".) These demands include control of the German leasehold in
Shantung province, the rights to exploit Manchuria and Mongolia, and control of Chinese coal
deposits [Keep in mind that Japan is a relatively small bunch of islands and is always lacking
the raw materials found on the mainlands.] They (the Japanese) also demand that other
powers be excluded from any more territorial (in China) concessions. They (the Japanese)
want control of Chinese military, commercial and financial affairs but they give up on this, in
part because the U.S. insists. The Chinese president, Yuan Shih-kai*, is stuck with having to
accept the other demands.
1916 - In Providence, R.I. the Provincetown Players* starts up this year. This group of
American actors and playwrights is founded by the playwright, Susan Glaspell* (1882-1948.)
It will become one of the best known and most productive of the new little theatres, giving
Eugene O'Neill* his first production opportunity.
Another "little theatre opens this year, the Detroit Arts and Crafts Theatre*.
1916 - This year an American theatre magazine starts up. Theatre Arts Magazine* , published
by Sheldon Cheney, begins to introduce the new and unusual to theatrical producers,
encouraging the break from realism to expressionism,* especially in settings and costume
design. [This magazine will continue publication until 1948, keeping America abreast of what
is new and innovative in theatre.] One of the major subjects the magazine deals with is the
"new stagecraft", (as the European trends were called in North America,) which is beginning
to make inroads into New York's commercial theater.
1916 From February through December the battle of Verdun* gradually reduces the town to
rubble and generates no advantage for either side. In the U.S. Wilson* runs for a second
presidential term on the boast of having "kept us out of war." But relations with Germany
continue to deteriorate.
In Ireland the Easter Rebellion* begins, led by the militant Sinn Fein* (the dominant Irish
Catholic nationalist group.) Things will drag on for years.
In China, Yuan Shih-kai* dies and a bunch of Chinese warlords take control of the
government. Civil war follows over the next five years.
1917-1918 War and Revolution
1917
By 1917, in America, there are fifty little theatre groups around the country.
In 1917 Copeau* is invited to the U.S. where he presents plays in New York for two years.
In Italy there is an intriguing new playwright, Luigi Pirandello* (1867-1936,) coming out this
year with Right You Are If You Think You Are*. Actually he's been writing for quite a few
years, just not plays. He will be terrifically influential with his grimly humorous mixture of
illusion and reality.
In Paris the term Surrealism* first appears in a program note written by Guillaume
Apollinaire* (1880-1918) for the multi-arts ballet, Parade* (music by Erik Satie,
choreography and dancing by Lonide Massine* (1896-?), sets and costumes by Pablo
Picasso* (1881-), and, programs and publicity by Jean Cocteau* (1889-1963, soon to be a
playwright of considerable note.) This is one of those experimental productions that sets Paris
on its ear and provokes riots in the streets.
Georg Kaiser* (1878-1945) produces From Morn to Midnight*, an expressionist play that
depicts "Everyman" as searching for the meaning of life only to become a martyr to
callousness and greed. This is one of the first mid-war plays to show the growing pessimism.
Kaiser* follows it with even more despairing plays, especially the trilogy Coral (1917), Gas I
(1918), and Gas II (1920). This series of plays shows an idealistic son and daughter rebelling
against their billionaire industrialist father and attempting to aid the world's workers. The
billionaire's descendants finally conclude that total destruction of the world is the only
solution to the human dilemma.
This year Reinhardt* (together with Hugo von Hofmannsthal* and Richard Strauss*) founds
the Salzburg Festival*.
This year there are ten German-language expressionist periodicals. In two years (1919) there
will be forty-four.
This year (April 6th) the Americans, no longer willing to put up with the unrestricted
submarine warfare that has Germany blowing U.S. ships out of the water, comes into the war
on the side of the Allies*. In June General Pershing* (1860-1948) commanding the American
Expeditionary Force, lands in France and proceeds to lead his troops into action at ChateauThierry. There is a slight military problem among the Allies. Nobody is willing to let anyone
else lead the troops of their country. This means there is very little military coordination
among the separate armies of the Allies. The French are doing their thing, the English (and all
their colonies) doing theirs, and now, the Americans, doing theirs. Mainly they just divide up
sections of the static "front" among the various armies. And now, there is the distinct
possibility that Russia may pull out of the war and leave all those German troops on the
Eastern Front free to join battle with the Allies on the Western Front.
The Russian Revolution - 1917
In Russia, the population is fed-up and they aren't going to take it any more, what with
military defeats, a terrifically inept government and wide-spread suffering in the civilian
sector. In March there are food riots and strikes in the capital, Petrograd (it used to be St.
Petersburg,) and in Moscow. Even a sizable number of the soldiers refuse to help put down
this civil unrest. The Czar (Nicholas II*) tries, with no success, to dissolve the fourth duma
(remember, it's that parliament the Czar put in as part of the civil liberties he tried in response
to the 1905 revolution.) The revolutionaries are better organized now than they were in 1905.
The revolutionary committees organized by the socialists among the striking workers are
called soviets (councils) and now there are farmers', peasants', and soldiers' soviets springing
up all over. These have central executive committees and cover the socialist spectrum of
Bolsheviks*, Mensheviks* and members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party*.
The insurgents take over the capital (Petrograd) and the duma appoints a provisional
government under Prince Lvov* (1861-1925.) The Czar is forced to abdicate. The
government doesn't have much support, but nobody else does either. The government's power
consists of the Petrograd soviets (workers and soldiers) which control troops, communication
and transport. In April Lenin* returns to Russia to lead the small Bolshevik* party. Their
slogans include "end the war," "all land to the peasants," and "all power to the soviets." [He
sees the World War as an opportunity for worldwide socialist revolution.]
In May Trotsky* returns to Russia and becomes the leading organizer of the Bolsheviks*
power moves. The government (that provisional one under Prince Lvov) reacts to the
demonstrations for peace. The foreign minister resigns and Prince Lvov is replaced by the
Mensheviks* and the revolutionary, Aleksandr Kerensky* (1881-1970) as Prime Minister.
[He won't last long either.]
In October-November, the British attack the German line in another battle of Ypres (in
southwest Belgium) and manage to advance all of five miles (at the cost of 300,000 dead.)
At this point we have the Russian "October Revolution." In November (October in the Old
Style Russian calendar,) the Russian provisional government isn't solving the economic
problems or ending the war. The Bolsheviks* [remember, this is the bunch that wants a small
party of professional revolutionaries who will establish a dictatorship of the workers and
peasants] seize power in Russia and begin getting Russia out of the war. Trotsky* starts out as
the people's commissar for foreign affairs.
1918
1918 - In England they are busy reviving the classics. Nigel Playfair* (1874-1934) leases the
the Lyric Theatre*, presenting Restoration and eighteenth century works, many of which
enjoy long runs.
1918 - In the commercial New York theatre, Arthur Hopkins* (1878-1950) begins producing
plays by Tolstoy*, Ibsen*, Gorky*, and O'Neill*, proving that the "new stagecraft" can be
commercially successful.
1918 - In New York, the Washington Square Players* disband, but some of its members start
a new venture. They form the Theatre Guild*, a professional company dedicated to presenting
plays of merit not likely to interest commercial managers. From this founding until it begins
to run into financial difficulties in the 30's, the Theatre Guild* will be America's most
respected theater, presenting several plays each year to its New York subscribers and sending
out companies to subscribers in six other cities.
In Russia, in January the constituent assembly meets but it is disbanded by Bolshevik* troops.
They set up the Cheka (political police) to eliminate any opposition. Democratic reform is in
big trouble. In March Soviet Russia (the Bolsheviks* who are now the Russian Communist
Party) signs a separate peace treaty (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk*) with the Central Powers* .
The terms are not good for the Russians (they lose lots of territory and have to recognize the
independence of Poland, the Baltic states, Georgia and the Ukraine). Trotsky* doesn't agree
with Lenin* about this treaty, so he quits being foreign affairs commissar and becomes the
people's commissar of war. He organizes the Red Army and keeps busy pursuing the civil war
for the next two years.
The treaty also makes all the other Allies* very angry. A number of countries (British,
American, French and others) send troops into Russia to fight on ththe side of the "Whites"
(the anti-Bolsheviks*) against the "Reds" (the Bolsheviks*) but this is ineffective. One of the
main problems is that while Lenin* claims the October Revolution created a proletarian
dictatorship, in fact, it is the party that rules. This effectively cuts the proletariat out of the
picture.
This year there is also a very devastating influenza epidemic which spreads throughout all the
countries involved in the war [including America, of course]. Over twenty million people die
as a result of this epidemic.
The second Battle of the Marne stops the Germans just short of Paris and a successful Allied
counter-offensive follows. The Turkish Ottoman and the Austro-Hungarian Empires are
disintegrating from within. They, together with Bulgaria, surrender to the Allies.
The German revolution- of 1918-19
These surrenders, coupled with the socialist-communist success in Russia encourages German
revolutionary groups and they begin to come out of the woodwork. The first mass strikes had
already begun in January. In October, when it is obvious to the government that the war is
lost, the first parliamentary German government is formed under Prince Max of Baden
(Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm, 1867-1929). They hurriedly amend the
constitution (to make it seem more democratic) while calling on Washington for leadership in
an armistice and peace negotiations. This upsets the German Naval command and the
Admirals plan to move the fleet. The Naval command's autocratic plan inspires a general
mutiny in the navy and control passes to a revolutionary sailors' council. The delay in getting
an armistice sets everybody against Prince Max. Splinter parties show up all over (the
Independent Socialists, the "Spartacus League", a forerunner of the German Communist
party). In the first days of November, revolutionary activities spread through a lot of German
cities. The government cabinet starts pushing Kaiser Wilhelm II to resign. By the time they
finally get the Kaiser out (November 9) the soldiers' and workers' councils have taken power
in Berlin and all big German cities. They elect an executive committee and a council of
people's commissars to take over the German government.
Meanwhile an armistice is set for November 11. It's a really crushing document, requiring
Germany to hand over her battle fleet and heavy armaments, pull her armies back from all
foreign territories and retire behind the Rhine. The Peace Conference to settle all the details is
scheduled to begin January 18, 1919. The fighting is over but the maneuvering is just
beginning. For one thing, fortunately for the Russians, the general armistice (November 1918)
includes the Allies* making the Central Powers* renounce the earlier treaty the Russians had
signed.
1918 In Ireland, the militant Sinn Fein* declares themselves the Dail Eireann (the Irish
Assembly) and proclaims an Irish Republic. This does not go down well with the Brits and
they outlaw the Sinn Fein* (who respond by going underground and waging guerrilla war).
In China Sun Yat-sen* is leading the Kuomintang* (remember, it's the biggest Chinese
political party?) This year it sets up a secret revolutionary government in Canton. This will
continue.
War Ends But Revolution Continues
1919-1920
1919 - The Great War Ends
The Paris peace conference runs from January through May when the draft treaty is presented
to the Germans at Versailles. The impact of the treaty is pretty overwhelming.
Germany has to give away all her colonies, and Alsace-Lorraine; Poznania; a piece of
territory along the lower Vistula River (later known as the Polish corridor); part of Upper
Silesia and some miscellaneous districts that now go to Denmark and Belgium.
Danzig becomes a free city and the Saar basin is separated from Germany and will be
administered by the League of Nations* for the next fifteen years, at which time the people
there will vote on whether they will be part of France or Germany..
The German Army is limited to 100,000 regular, universal conscription is forbidden, the
German Navy is to become a costal defense force only, and the Rhineland and a belt of 30
miles east along the Rhine are to stay forever demilitarized.
In addition to these losses, Germany is required to pay reparations (in cash) over a long period
of time. The whole thing looks impossible to the Germans, but with no other choice, they
throw together a temporary cabinet (from Socialist and Center parties) and sign the treaty on
June 28, 1919.
The Weimar Republic, sort ofThe Weimar Constitution* comes together on August 11, 1919. It's a big change over
Bismark's plan. The German Reich is now more highly centralized: it has full tax authority;
responsibility for all defense; owns all railroads, etc. There is a President (following the
American model) elected by the people; a chancellor (appointed by the President with the
confidence of the majority of the Reichstag [elected sort-of parliament]); and the Reichstag,
which the President is empowered to dissolve (and suspend constitutional guarantees) during
an emergency. There is still a Federal Council representing the state government, but it can't
do anything except advise. Although it was originally planned that Prussia be divided, it
doesn't seem necessary now, since it doesn't run the federal government anymore, and, since
they introduced universal suffrage (that means all men can vote) Prussia turns out to be the
most democratic of all German states.
During all this revolution (1918-19) the middle-class flocks to the Democratic Party (to hold
the line against the social revolution). In Prussia there is a fairly stable coalition of Social
Democrats, Democrats and Center Parties. The rest of Germany has only a precarious hold on
democratic forces. The defeat, surrender and crushing terms of the peace treaty, fuels a trend
to the political right.
In Russia Lenin* establishes the Third International* (or Comintern) to further world
revolution. Idealists flock to it from all over the world. At home he is busy with his policy of
"war communism" that has lots of nationalization, food rationing and control over industry.
He tries to boost the economy by launching the New Economic Policy (allowing some private
enterprise).
America Draws Back Into Its Shell Almost two million American Doughboys come home from the war to be demobilized in
1919. The hysteria of wartime propaganda and patriotism turns rapidly into cynicism and
apathy. Despite America's massive industrial power and innovative technology, the country is
still essentially provincial. The end of the war leaves America appalled in its still basically
puritanical heart.
There will now begin a period of last-ditch stands of the rural state of mind against the
realities of the twentieth century. The industrial expansion in the first part of the century has
resulted in massively increased use of electrical power, at least 200,000 tractors a year
produced, over eight million cars on the road and the ever increasing presence of the radio and
motion pictures. For the first time in history the average American can see and hear faces,
voices and scenes produced thousands of miles away.
Almost half of all Americans still live in rural areas and Small-town, conservative America
believes itself to be America. The real instrument of change will be the automobile. The
advent of the cheap auto (thanks to Mr. Ford*, by 1924 the price of one of his cars will be
down to $290) and the changes it makes in buying habits and credit practices will
revolutionize society. Sexual morality has been changing and the automobile accelerates it.
The rise of suburbia comes with the new mobility. The first American radio station goes on
the air in the fall of 1920 and it is quickly possible to tune in to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or
New York any evening. The new kind of music and the sophisticated humour becomes
available to the backlands, along with the dramatic alteration in politics made possible by the
candidates new-found ability to reach voters far beyond his personal reach. Despite these
changes, rural America will fight for its conservative values.
There are four major themes in the remainder of our period that show the passion of rural state
of mind reacting to change.
The first theme is the moralism of prohibition*. In 1919 the wartime patriotism of prohibition
is translated into constitutional law with the Eighteenth Amendment and Americans begin the
great "experiment."
The second major theme is widespread fear of "radicals" (socialists, anarchists, reds, etc.)
which leads to the Big Red Scare and the reaction as demonstrated by the Palmer* raids
(1919-20). [Attorney General Palmer took advantage of the hysteria and the incapacity of
President Wilson (he's down with a stroke in September) to act on his own authority, round up
alien Bolshevik* sympathizers, securing federal injunctions and generally running a witch
hunt.] Actually there is considerable evidence of radical terrorists and various kinds of social
unrest at this time, what with race riots in Washington (6 die) and Chicago (38 die in weeklong riots,) New York, Omaha and in the rural south and steel, dock, and even worse, police
strikes. In April a bomb is discovered in the Seattle Mayor's mail and Senator Hardwick of
Atlanta's maid is injured by a package. The next day sixteen similar packages are discovered
in New York addressed to various leaders (including Attorney General Palmer). Next year the
alien scare will lead to the passing of the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, designed to protect
the racial purity (?) of America by restricting immigration severely in favor of "Nordic"
stocks and banning all Asians (a real insult to the Japanese since it followed right on top of
Wilson's refusal to include an article denouncing racial discrimination in the League of
Nations Charter.
The third theme shows up as small-town America's rebellion against imagined corruption
from outside the country and from the big city. This shows up in the Ku Klux Klan's* revival
in the 1920s. The new Klan is dedicated to being anti-catholic, anti-jewish, anti-negro, antiforeign and anti-urban. Its successful expansion is due almost entirely to American business
know-how embodied in a publicity man named Edward Y. Clarke. By 1923 the Klan will
grow to over five million and increasing by 3,500 members a day. It will come to dominate
the government of at least seven states. "TWK" (trade with the Klan) becomes a valuable
device to display in a merchants window.
The final theme is the emotional stand of fundamentalist religion exemplified in the "monkey"
trial (Scopes* trial) of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. The war between Fundamentalism and
science had been going on since the 1850s publications of Charles Darwin.* The current crop
of evangelists include Billy Sunday* and Aimee Semple McPherson*, but it is the fading
"Great Commoner," William Jennings Bryan* who will defend fundamentalism at the trial in
Tennessee against the lawyer Clarence Darrow.*
Theatre goes on - 1919
The Bauhaus* (the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar, a school of Fine Arts and Arts and Crafts)
is established by Walter Gropius* (1893-1969). Not principally devoted to stage work, the
Bauhaus* attempts to unite all aspects of art into one unified whole, both functional and
aesthetic. Its most important influence in the theatre is in the field of architecture. Gropius*
designs what he calls a "total" theatre, in which he combines the three basic stage forms arena, thrust, and proscenium - into one convertible unit. Although never built, the idea
influences theatre architecture ever since.
Throughout the First World War, German theater continues without interruption. Now, at the
end of the war, the "royal" theaters are renamed "state" theaters but otherwise remained
unchanged. It will take the economic disaster of the postwar period to influence German
theater. Reinhardt* continues to lead the way, especially in large productions. He remodels
the Circus Schumann into a large theater seating more than 3,500 with a revolving stage
behind the proscenium and a large platform and arena in front. This theater will flourished
through 1922.
One of the best and most mature expressionist playwrights, Ernst Toller* (1893-1939,) is busy
writing his first play, Transfiguration*. He is writing it in jail where he was sent (for pacifism)
in 1916 after being invalided out of the trenches. He will go on to write many more.
Theater seating is also undergoing change, based on Wagner's theatre at Bayreuth. There are
fewer boxes and balconies, and the center aisle is eliminated to improve sight lines. Seating is
fanned out with rising rows of seats all facing the stage directly.
After the war, Jacques Copeau* reopens his theatre in France. He encourages his actors to
explore all the aspects of theater, including mime, acrobatics, both vocal and instrumental
music, dance and improvisation. Among Copeau*'s company are Louis Jouvet* (1887-1951)
and Charles Dullin* (1885-1949), both of whom will carry on his ideas under their own
companies. Like Copeau*, they feel the text is the essential thing of theater and use extremely
simplified sets for all their productions while encouraging their actors to utilize all the forms
of dramatic art. Many of the famous surrealist and expressionist painters are employed to
design sets for their productions. Art and theater are blending in a way never seen before or
since.
1919-1924: Expressionism* is the dominant mode in German theater right after the end of the
war. Actors portray moral problems rather than characters. With the culmination of the "war
to end all wars" the expressionists see hope for an ideal future, but pessimism begins to rear
its head as man does not rise to the expressionists' dream.
Leopold Jessner* (1878-1945), a follower of Reinhardt*, becomes the director of the Berlin
State Theater* this year and, between now and 1933, wins international fame for his
imaginative use of mobile steps and platforms instead of scenery, and the emotional and
symbolic aspects of the costumes and lighting. Jessner* works primarily with the classics,
including Shakespeare.
Disillusion Sets In 1920-25
1920
This year Reinhardt* begins his annual production of Hugo von Hofmannsthal* 's Everyman*
at the Salzburg Festival* in Austria. This event is growing in popularity and prestige.
Eugene O'Neill* (1888-1953) writes Beyond The Horizon* this year, winning the 1920
Pulitzer Prize for it. This play establishes him as the foremost American playwright. Later this
year he comes out with his popular expressionistic* play, Emperor Jones*. His major plays
will include:
Anna Christie* (1921 - Pulitzer) The Hairy Ape* (1922) Desire Under The
Elms* (1924) Strange Interlude* (1928 - Pulitzer) Mourning Becomes Electra*
(1931) Ah, Wilderness!* (1933) The Iceman Cometh* (1946) A Moon For The
Misbegotten* (1947) [leaves manuscripts at his death, including Long Day's
Journey Into Night*]
This is the year that Great Britain finally comes through with a "Home Rule" bill that calls for
the partition of Ireland into six counties of Protestant Ulster and the rest of the island. The
whole thing isn't quite finished yet.
The United States finally comes through with Women's Suffrage (that means women can now
vote). The end of the war brings a lot of social changes, women bob their hair, men shave
their faces, union membership and strikes increase. Warren Harding* (1865-1923) comes in
as the 29th president (probably one of the worst). This year finds Nicola Sacco* and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti* arres ted and indicted for murder. A bomb explosion in Wall Street
kills 35 and wounds 130. There is a definite fear of anarchism.
In Germany we begin to hear about a guy named Adolph Hitler* (1889-1945,) he is busy
announcing his 25-point program in Munich.
In India, Mahatma Gandhi* (1869-1948) is emerging as India's leader in its struggle for
independence.
1921
In London a grand-nephew of the actress Ellen Terry*, John Gielgud* (1904- ) makes his first
appearance on stage at the Old Vic*. He will go on to a magnificently distinguished career as
an actor and as a director.
In America there is a multitalented man, Kenneth Macgowan* (1888-1963,) who is currently
a drama critic and editor of Theatre Arts Magazine,* very intersted in the "New Stagecraft"
and, this year, authors a work entitled The Theatre of Tomorrow*. He gave O'Neill* rave
reviews for Emperor Jones* last year and this is the beginning of a fruitful association.
Ernst Toller* is in the vanguard of the post-war playwrights. His Man and the Masses* (1921)
tells of a woman's struggle to aid the common worker and her defeat by those who place
ideological position above humanitarian principles. A later work, Hurrah, We Live!* (1927)
shows former idealists settled into comfortable lives repeating the mistakes they once rebelled
against.
Jurgen Fehling* (1890-1968) is the director of Berlin's Volksbhne* in Berlin and this year
presents Toller*'s Man and the Masses*. He's into producing lots of the new expressionist
plays and tries a lot of other styles.
In New York, Arthur Hopkins* creates a sensation with his production of Macbeth*. It is the
expressionistic settings by Robert Edmond Jones* that really rock the professional theatre.
Antonin Artaud* (1896-1948) starts working in theatre, first as an actor for Lugne-Poe. He
will go on to act and direct for other prominent Paris managers.
1921 The German foreign minister is assassinated. Hitler*'s storm troopers (SA) begin to
terrorize political opponents. There is a rapid fall of the German mark and the beginning of
inflation.
In China Sun Yat-sen* is still leading the Kuomintang,* sets up another secret revolutionary
government in Canton and becomes the president of a self-proclaimed national government at
Canton. Remember that the warlords are still pursuing a civil war, so there's hardly a unified
China for anyone to rule.
In Mongolia, Outer Mongolia breaks away from the Chinese influence (actually the warring
warlords) and forms the Mongolian People's Republic*. Inner Mongolia stays under Chinese
control.
1922
This year Jean Cocteau* (1892-1963) makes a big splash with his new version of Sophocles'*
Antigone*. It is directed by Charles Dullin.* Cocteau* uses surrealism's techniques in several
diverse ways. The ballet Parade*, the pantomime The Ox on the Roof,* and reworkings of
several of the classic Greek dramas all receive surrealist treatment. His plays and their staging
both come from the surrealist movement then popular in France. In the ballet, The Married
Couple of the Eiffel Tower,* Cocteau* has dialogue spoken by actors costumed as
phonographs.
In Germany, from 1922 through 1924, Reinhardt* moves his headquarters to Austria and adds
an annual production of The Great Theatre of the World* to the Salzburg Festival*. This year
he also becomes the director of Vienna's Theatre in dem Redoutensaal (a converted Imperial
ballroom) where he produces intimate theatre and the plays and operas of the eighteenth
century. You will notice that by this time he is producing in three theatres in Berlin and two in
Austria, all at the same time.
In America, Kenneth Macgowan* and Robert Edmond Jones* collaborate on a book this year,
Continental Stagecraft*.
1922 Great Britain comes through with a treaty giving the remainder of Ireland (all but those
six Protestant counties) Dominion status in the British Empire as the Irish Free State*.
Russia finally incorporates the Soviet Far East into the USSR this year. Problems with China,
Mongolia and Japan continue along the various borders.
In Italy the first official advocate of fascism*, Benito Mussolini* (1883-1945,) marches on
Rome. Once there he forms a Fascist* government.
1923
The Irish struggle of 1915-22 provides the material for a brilliant new Irish playwright, Sean
O'Casey* (1880-1964) who gets his first play, The Shadow of a Gunman*, produced at the
Abbey Theatre* in Dublin. His work will lead to a revitalization of the Abbey Theatre* and a
second Irish Renaissance.
A new actor-playwright, Noel Coward* (1899-1973), comes out with his first play this year,
The Young Idea*. He will go on to illuminate the comedy stage with a series of classic
comedies, revues and musical efforts. He will also act extensively, especially in his own
shows.
In the German Bauhaus*, Oskar Schlemmer* (1888-1943) is director of the stage workshop.
He does some fascinating basic research on analyzing each visual element.
In America the innovative theatrical designer, Norman Bel Geddes* (1893-1958,) wins instant
recognition and fame for his magnificent designs for Reinhardt*'s American production of
Volmueller's The Miracle*. Kenneth Macgowan* writes another book about the new theatre,
Masks and Demons*, with Herman Rosse*.
Also in the 1920s several Russian Moscow Art Theatre artists emigrate to America to escape
the changes that are beginning to dampen experimentation at home. Richard Boleslavsky* and
Maria Ouspenskaya* found the American Laboratory Theatre* as a training and producing
company in New York. They introduce the acting methods of Constantin Stanislavsky* to the
American theatre. Their students will become the next generation of innovative and dynamic
theatre leaders (especially Lee Strasberg* and Harold Clurman*, see below in the 1930s).
This year Eugene O'Neill* asks the theatre critic Kenneth Macgowan (1888-1963) to take
over the direction of the Provincetown Players*. He does, while continuing his work as editor
of the Theatre Arts Magazine.* Macgowan* will direct some of the major American plays as
well as continuing as an author. Latew he will direct and produce motion pictures and teach
theatre at UCLA.*
In Paris, Artaud* is becoming one of the most original of the French surrealists between 1923
and 1927. He feels that theater should reach the audience's unconscious, and deal with the
things which cause divisions between peoples. Similar to the ancient Greeks, he feels that
theater could solve some of the world's problems. His works tend to be dark, a 'theatre of
cruelty*', where discordant noises, a "vibrating, shredded" lighting, and oddly positioned
acting areas will act directly on the senses and purge people of their more destructive
tendencies.
1923 In Japan there are terrific earthquakes. The centers of Tokyo and Yokohama are
destroyed. At least 120,000 die.
In Washington D.C. they begin to have hearings on the Teapot Dome oil scandal. This one
brings down quite a few politicians. Harding* dies suddenly and escapes the decimation of his
corrupt cabinet. Calvin Coolidge* (1872-1933) succeeds to the presidency as the 30th of that
office. In Oklahoma martial law is established to protect people and property from attacks by
the Ku Klux Klan*.
In Italy, all non-fascist parties are dissolved.
In Great Britain Stanley Baldwin* forms a new government with Neville Chamberlain* as
Chancellor of the Exchequer.
1924
In Germany, Reinhardt* moves his headquarters back to Berlin, but keeps up all his Austrian
theatre work. By this year in Germany Expressionism* is practically dead. The optimism that
came with the end of the war has turned to disappointment, disillusion and, now, pessimism.
Expressionism* will continue in other countries (notably in America) and gradually be
absorbed into other styles, but, as a discreet movement, it is over.
A more militant descendent of Expressionism* begins to appear. Erwin Piscator* (1893-1966)
is appointed director at Berlin's Volksbuhne* this year. Between now and 1927 be will be
busy trying to create a "proletarian drama" and will be developing a style that will be known
as "Epic Theatre*." [We'll hear a good deal more about this soon.]
In France, a talented man of the theatre, Georges Pitoeff* (1887-1939, also spelled Pitoev)
takes a company to the Thtre des Arts* (and later, 1934, to the Theatre des Mathurins*. He
is a Russian born French actor who had directed for two years in St Petersberg before moving
to Geneva (1915-21). His early contact with Stanislavsky* and Meyerhold* has influenced
him, as well as his acquaintance with the theory and practice of Dalcroze* in Geneva. He and
his wife Ludmilla* are excellent actors (after his death she will take over direction of the
company and lead it on extended American and Canadian tours). He also adapts, translates,
directs and produces a wide range of foreign plays as well as the newest French works. His
personal interpretations of these plays often center on the use of some simple secnic technique
or decorative device.
Surrealism* shows up this year as the focus of a new periodical, La Rvolution surrealiste*.
The first issue features Andre Breton*'s Surrealist Manifesto* which emphasizes "pure
psychic automatism."
In Ireland, Sean O'Casey* comes out with his second play, Juno and the Paycock*. All of his
plays are quickly picked up and produced in London and New York following their original
productions at the Abbey Theatre* in Dublin.
In England (Hammersmith, actually), a fine performance as Millamant* in Congreve's* The
Way of the World* establishes Edith Evans* (1888-1976) as one of the outstanding actresses
of her generation. She will have a very long and distinguished career. She will move on to the
Old Vic* for the 1925-6 season.
In America a Canadian comedy and revue actress, Beatrice Lillie* (1898-?), makes her first
appearance on the New York stage. This year she is in one of Andr Charlot's revues. She
plays in them in England and in New York through 1926. Her unique comic talent will delight
English-speaking audiences into the eighties.
1924 Lenin* dies this year and Petrograd is renamed Leningrad. His death leads to a terrific
power struggle in the USSR. Trotsky* and a formerly obscure guy named Joseph Stalin*
(1879-1953) are the two major players. Stalin* had come up as a regional party leader (in
Georgia) in 1912 to St. Petersburg and got on the central committee. Like the others he paid
his dues in Siberian exile. When the revolution started he got to be head of Pravda* (the party
paper,) then people's commissar of nationalities, and,finally, in 1922, general secretary of the
party. Despite the fact that Lenin* left a "testament" saying specifically that the party should
get rid of Stalin* because he couldn't be trusted, he comes out on top in the power struggle. It
takes a little while, but Trotsky* will be out as commissar of war next year, and, in 1927 he'll
be expelled from the party and deported from the country.
In China Sun Yat-sen* and the Kuomintang* form an alliance with the Communists under
Sun's* Three People's Principles (nationalism, democracy and livelihood). This year they
accept help from the USSR so they can take on the warlords in their conquest of Northern
China.
In Germany, Hitler* is sentenced to five years imprisonment. Actually he is released after
eight months.
Calvin Coolidge* wins the presidential election. J. Edgar Hoover*(1875-1972) is appointed
director of the Bureau of Investigation (it'll become the FBI in 1935).
1925
In America by this year, nearly 2,000 community or little theatre groups are registered with
the Drama League of America.
Peter Godfrey* (1899-1971), unable to get a license for the only hall he can afford, opens the
Gate Theatre* as a private club. He presents the new expressionist theatre to England,
including Kaiser*'s From Morn to Midnight*.
Between 1922-1934, in addition to the strictly expressionist plays being shown at the Gate
Theatre*, other producers are doing interesting things. Barry Jackson* (1879-1961), founder
and director of the Birmingham Repertory Company* (and, later, in 1929, the Malvern
Festival*,) produces several modern dress
Shakespearian plays in London and offers a wide range of theatrical experiences to his home
audiences.
1925 In China Sun Yat-sen* dies this year and the Kuomintang* comes under the leadership
of Chiang Kai-shek* (1887-1975). Much more will happen in this part of the world soon.
Hitler* reorganizes the Nazi Party* (it has 27,000 members) and publishes the first volume of
Mein Kampf*. Hindenberg* (1847-1934) is elected President of Germany.
Japan finally introduces general suffrage for men.
Afterword
For a number of reasons, things begin to change by 1925. The Russian revolution is finally
settled and Lenin is dead. Stalin* is taking the reins and Russian society is in for a rude shock,
theatre artists begin to leave. In Italy there is a Fascist government. In Germany Hitler* is
well into organizing the Nazi Party* and publicizing his ideas in Mein Kampf*. America is
sunk deep in isolationism again, preoccupied with growing pains and social problems.
England is no longer the power it was before the war, having lost the cream of a whole
generation in the trenches of Europe. Europe is decimated, disillusioned and filled with angst*
and weltschmertz*. The next (and last) period in our study will show the fruits of everything
we have looked at so far.
next Chapter 17
forward to PartFour
home Home
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jazz Age And Depression

1925-1939
Introduction
In Europe the rise of fascism and communism keeps everybody busy taking sides.
Italy, under the fascist leadership of Benito Mussolini*, is trying to establish a modern day
Roman Empire. This requires some sort of conquest, and, despite the objections of the League
of Nations, Italy will invade Ethiopia.
Germany, under the fascist leadership of Adolph Hitler*, is slowly shedding the trappings of
democracy. Since Germany has been forbidden an air force, they are busy training pilots in
gliders. Gradually this will be transformed into the Luftwaffe (Air Force.) Other major
changes are on the way.
All this fascism is made possible by the economic plight of the country. Not only is it
suffering manpower and property loss from the war, it is saddled with impossible financial
reparations and short all that territory it lost which had most of the profitable heavy industry.
Spain - back in 1923 a military dictatorship had been established under a guy named Primo
De Rivera* when he seized power in a coup and dissolved the Cortes* (the Spanish
parliament) supported by Alfonso XIII* (1886-1941) the king of Spain. In 1925 this military
dictatorship is replaced by a civil one (which Primo De Rivera* also runs.) In 1929 there will
be an attempt at a liberal uprising and things will go from bad to worse, ending in the Spanish
Civil War* (1936-39.)
Great Britain, in the aftermath of the war, is busy coping with social unrest (labor unions,
communist agitators and social reformers) and economic problems incurred by the cost of the
war. The Empire is beginning to fray at the edges (especially India) and the increasing
importance of oil makes all that territory the Brits picked up in the Middle East very
important.
In Russia, under the communist leadership of Joseph Stalin*, his consolidation of power is
under way. This will lead to the purge, socialist realism (in the arts) and the five year plans
(for economic development.) The power that makes all this possible is the army and the
political police.
In America, Calvin Coolidge* (1872-1933) is still president and his public statements help
encourage the stock market speculation of the late twenties. Fortunately he decides not to run
in 1928. Meanwhile, since the U.S. wasn't ravaged by the war, the rich are getting richer and
everybody else is doing pretty well too. All those farmers in the Great Plains who mechanized
(tractors, combines, and all that stuff) and planted miles of wheat to feed the "Doughboys" of
WWI are still churning out bread to feed the world. Unfortunately they don't know about the
weather change that is coming and will turn their fields into the "Dust Bowl."
In China the communists are busy carrying on a civil war with the Kuomintang. Sun Yat-sen*
dies this year and the Kuomintang* comes under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek* (18871975.) Things will be getting even worse as this period goes on.
In America this is known as the Jazz Age, the age of the "It" girl, the age of inflation (when
caution, prudence and morals in business are thrown to the wind). In England it's the period of
the "bright young things" who are into jazz, wild parties, and often, drugs. The world-wide
feelings of anxiety and world-pain are being dealt with by a flurry of furious enjoyment.
Everywhere it is the time of fierce conflict between the far right (fascism, the Ku Klux Klan,
Father Coughlin, etc.) and the far left (communism, socialism extremes, radical labor unions,
etc.).
Russia
Meyerhold* was the first theatre director to offer his services to the new communist regime.
In 1920 he had been appointed head of the Theatre Section of the People's Commissariat for
Education, getting the old Sohn theatre for his workshop. After 1926 it will be known as the
Meyerhold* Theatre*. His early post-revolutionary work is known as bio-mechanics*, a
synthesis of his earlier experimentation. It will be very influential in actor training Tairov*
gives up his experimental excesses and develops his social consciousness. He will put on two
of O'Neill*'s plays (The Hairy Ape* and Desire Under The Elms*) in 1926. His play choice in
the last half of the decade will be severely criticized.
Ireland
In 1925 the newly formed Free State Government comes up with a subsidy for the Abbey
Theatre* which saves the theatre from bankruptcy. The plays of Sean O'Casey* bring
audiences back to the theatre and new playwrights start writing lively comedies. Also in 1925
the Peacock Theatre* opens for poetic and experimental theatre, and for use by other groups.
The late twenties sees a resurgence of prestige for the Abbey* and an excellent acting
company is assembled.
The United States
With the establishment (in 1917) of the Pulitzer Prize* (from a fund established by the
journalist, Joseph Pulitzer and administered by the trustees of Columbia University) in drama,
for an American play, preferably original and dealing with American life, there is added
prestige for American playwrights from 1918 on. This year the prize goes to Sidney Howard*
for his play, They Knew What They Wanted*.
This is the time of more and more American experiments in playwrighting and production
styles, undertaken mainly by various non-commercial theatre groups such as the
Provincetown Theatre* and the Washington Square Players*. In addition to these two better
known groups we must include the less familiar Neighborhood Playhouse*.
This production group had been started at the Settlement house on Grand Street on New
York's Lower East Side by the Lewisohn* sisters who built and endowed the Neighborhood
Playhouse*. Together, Alice and Irene Lewisohn* design, direct, and choreograph, most of
the productions done here, beginning in 1915 and ending in 1927. They produced an
extraordinary range of exceptionally fine foreign plays (including the Hindu Little Clay Cart*
and the exciting Jewish Dybuk* by Ansky*, 1863-1920) as well as new dance dramas and
ballets.
The American musical is beginning to take off with the work of some of the world's greatest
composers and lyricists turning out increasingly more developed and sophisticated works. At
the same time America is becoming the haven for theatre artists fleeing oppression all over
Europe and Russia.
In 1925 nearly 2,000 community or "little" theatres are now registered with the Drama League
of America*, an organization that encourages local interest in drama.
Black playwrights get a helping hand when W.E.B. DuBois* institutes the Krigwa
Playwriting Contest for black writers. Later the Krigwa Players will produce their own plays
in a Harlem library basement. Black playwright Garland Anderson* has his play
Appearances* produced on Broadway, the first black play to be seen on the Great White Way.
George Pierce Baker* moves to Yale University to establish a drama school which will
provide professional training in the dramatic arts.
France
Paris is still the center of the Arts. The finest actors and most interesting experiments are still
going on in the theatres of Paris. One of the major contributions in this period will be the
increased attention and use of mime*. Ever since (in the 1820s) the famous pantomimist,
Deburau*, created a new interest in mime and pantomime, the French have been increasingly
interested in the theatrical uses of mime. This is the time when that interest takes off.
Decroux* and Dullin* are currently teaching actors mime. The group of French actordirectors who came together before the war and performed in America during that war are
now moving on to individual achievements. Jacques Copeau* has retired from Paris (in 1924)
to Burgundy with a group of youngsters. He will spend the next five years concentrating on
training the young actors.
Charles Dullin* had put together his own company back in 1919 and took a long provincial
tour. When he settled in Paris it was at the Theatre de l'Atelier*. There he soon gets the
reputation for having one of the finest experimental theatres in France. He introduces the
plays of Pirandello* to Paris and produces Cocteau*'s Antigone* (1922.) He is running a
school in conjunction with his theatre. Louis Jouvet* left Copeau* in 1922 to take over the
Comedie des Champs-Elysees* where he is busy becoming one of the most important figures
of the French theatre. He will soon (1928) begin a long association with one of the most
prominent playwrights, Giraudoux*. The most prominent French playwrights of this period
are Claudel*, Cocteau* and Giraudoux*, but a number of others are learning their craft and
getting ready to begin. There is also a philosopher, Gabriel Marcel* (1889-1964) who will
introduce the term "existentialism" into the language and who has been writing dramas of
conscience since 1920. His most important work (for the theatre) will come in 1936.
Spain
The democratic tendencies in Spain that will show up in the coming Civil War are also
reflected in theatrical attempts to create new and meaningful Spanish drama. The only
internationally influential work will come in the thirties with the poet Garca Lorca*.
Italy
During the First World War Luigi Pirandello* had begun writing plays and Edward Gordon
Craig* had to close his school in Florence. Pirandello* continues writing plays into the
thirties. Craig* continues publishing his magazine, The Mask* and doing theatrical
experiments whenever and wherever he can.
Great Britain
In the aftermath of the war Great Britain is busy coping with social unrest (labor unions,
communist agitators and social reformers) and economic problems incurred by the cost of the
war. The Empire is beginning to fray at the edges (especially India) and the increasing
importance of oil makes all that territory the Brits picked up in the Middle East very
important.
That new actor-playwright Noel Coward* has five productions running in London this year
(1925.) It might be said that he is prolific and energetic as well as successful.
Peter Godfrey* (1899-1971), is still running the Gate Theatre* as a private club, introducing
the new expressionist theatre to England.
Germany
What with all those social problems and the rise of fascism, the most distinctive theatrical
feature is the cabaret* (which will be popularized after the next war by plays and a musical of
the same name.) In this setting the German society confronts the social problems with
humour, music and dance. Expressionism is pretty much past its prime in Germany and epic*
theatre is getting a start in the work of Piscator*. Meyerhold* is still the internationally
famous theatrical leader.
Movies
The cinema, films or movies finally begin to emerge as one of the arts between 1918 and
1928. While American films are packing them in at the box-office all over the world, Swedish
films are acclaimed artistically and the Germans (especially Lubitsch and his 1920 The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari*) are making a world-wide reputation. The Russian are finally getting
themselves together, after the Revolution, and studying D.W. Griffith. Pudovkin, Dovzhenko
and Eisenstein* will become very important names in cinematic art. Between studying film
and his theatre background (in the worker's theatre,) Sergei Eisenstein* realizes that the kind
of realism he wants can only be achieved in film. He makes his first film in 1924 (Strike*)
and his second, Battleship Potemkin* (1925) is the first to be shown commercially outside
Russia.
The French, of course, feel obligated to be at the forefront of this art as well as others. They
excel in the avant-garde movement, beginning in 1923. The current art movements of
Dadaism and Surrealism and their parents, Cubism and Futurism foster this new movement.
Ren Clair, Jean Renoir, Germaine Dulac and others developed a cinematic style. In 1928
Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali will come out with an authentic statement of the dream state
(in Un Chien Andalou) and this experimentation will also feed back into the theatre in the
work of Cocteau*.
This is also the period when Hollywood* saturates the world. Not only is there an enormous
audience at home, but the film export markets of the world are wide open. Distribution
becomes centralized in the hands of a few major producers and vertical integration of
production, distribution and exhibition in the hands of a few companies crowds out the
newcomer or small independent.
American films become almost totally preoccupied with presenting escapist dream-world or
adventure in exotic and luxurious surroundings. The war has broken down the Victorian
moral codes and it's "anything goes" time. Some of the big names in production are Cecil B.
de Mille*, Erich von Stroheim*, Frank Capra*, Ernst Lubitsch*, Hal Roach* and King Vidor*
and then sound comes to the films. Humorous films are topping the box office with stars like
Harold Lloyd*, Fatty Arbuckle, Mildred Davies and, of course, Charlie Chaplin* who brings
out The Gold Rush* this year (1925).
Theatrical and Artistic Theory
The French lead in theory, being prolific writers. However, this is a period when experimental
practice is far more influential than anything written. Most of the works published at this time
will surface again, after the next war, and have their influence then.
The Other Arts
Art Deco* (lots of streamlined, geometric design motifs) is the latest thing. Walter Gropius*
moves the Bauhaus* from Dessau to Weimar. In Art, some of the more prominent names are:
Chagall, Picasso, Rouault, Braque, Matisse, Georgia O'Keefe, Salvador Dali, Paul Klee, Grant
Wood and Max Beckmann.
In Architecture, Louis Sullivan* (the father of modernism and skyscrapers) has died in 1924
and now we begin to hear about the work of Frank Lloyd Wright* and Saarinen in America.
In Music, experimentation is the rule, from Erik Satie* and Debussy* on. We begin to hear
from: Aaron Copeland, Rudolf Friml, Bartok, Hindesmith, Duke Ellington, "Jelly Roll"
Morton, Sigmund Romberg and Kurt Weill*, among many others.
In English language Literature, we hear a great deal from: Gertrude Stein, Hemingway,
Faulkner, Frost, Ring Lardner, Willa Cather, e.e. cummings, Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Edna Ferber, Aldous Huxley, Henrich Mann, Somerset Maugham, D.H. Lawrence,
Sinclair Lewis and A.A. Milne, among a lot of others.
In Dance, there is an explosion of modern dance. Ruth St. Denis* and Ted Shawn* have been
dancing, putting together a company (Denishawn Dancers) and touring (1922-25) the U.S.
and England. This year they are touring the Orient. They will organize the Denishawn School
of Dancing in Los Angeles and New York. One of their pupils, Martha Graham*, will make
an even bigger splash. A number of the dancers who are just beginning in this period, such as
Hanya Holm* and Agnes de Mille*, will add considerably to the quality of dancing in the
American musical.
1926
In America, we have Paul Green* doing In Abraham's Bosom* at Provincetown. The musical
theatre is expanding as the composer, Richard Rodgers * (1902-79) is working with lyricist,
librettist, Lorenz Hart* (1895-1943) on The Girl Friend* which opens this year. Next year
they will come out with Connecticut Yankee*.
The Worker's Drama League* begins the "workers' theatre" movement. Their work is
comprised mostly of socialistic propaganda designed to arouse protest against big business.
Eva Le Gallienne* (1899-1991,) an English [also French and Danish] actress who moved here
and spent the last five years doing starring roles on Broadway, founds the Civic Repertory
Company* to produce important foreign plays at reasonable admission prices. She will do so
very successfully until the company finally succumbs to the Depression in 1935.
George Kelly* wins this year's Pulitzer Prize* with his play Craig's Wife*.
Eugene O'Neill*'s play The Great God Brown* is rather tortuous and makes use of symbolic
masks to examine the conflict between man's spiritual and material needs. He will repeat this
style in 1934 with Days Without End*.
Sidney Howard* examines a mother trying to keep her son tied to her apron strings in The
Silver Cord*.
In France, Cocteau* comes out with his surrealist play, Orpheus*.
In Ireland Sean O'Casey produces The Plough and the Stars*, dealing with the 1916 rebellion.
It causes a riot.
In the British provinces, the Cambridge Festival Theatre* is established by Terence Gray*
(1895-?) with the avowed purpose of "attacking" realistic acting and production. The theatre
has no curtain, proscenium arch or orchestra pit. Patterns of light are projected against a
cyclorama in lieu of scenery and platforms and ramps serve as set dressing.
Russia encourages amateur theatre and at this time about 20,000 dramatic clubs exist among
the peasants. However, 63% of the physical theatre plants belong to the state. Meyerhold*
produces Gogol*'s The Inspector General* in a stylized setting.
In the U.S. in August, Warner Brothers try to ward off bankruptcy by introducing a novelty in
New York. A film (Don Juan) with sound accompaniment of a musical score synchronized
with the film. It doesn't make the sensation next year's sound film will.
Dr. Robert H. Goddard* demonstrates how practical liquid fuel rockets are. Nobody will pay
much attention at the moment, then the Germans will notice, and, finally, the Americans will
come to appreciate their inventor.
Congress seems to get the message that airplanes are useful, they establish the Army Air
Corps and pass the Air Commerce Act to come up with federal aid for airports and airlines.
1927
In America:
This year is a landmark for the American musical theatre. The composer, Jerome Kern*
(1885-1945) and lyricist, librettist, Oscar Hammerstein 2nd* (1895-1960,) come out with
Showboat*. They will both write more works, together and with others.
In New York, two hundred eighty plays open this theater season, the most ever. Among these
is Phillip Barry*'s Paris Bound*, a comedy of manners dealing with divorce among the upper
classes. The number of new productions will decline from this high to an average of eighty by
1939, due to a number of factors, like competition from the movies (which are now talkies,)
The coming depression and the rising costs of putting something on the stage.
In France:
Roger Vitrac* (1899-1952 French poet, playwright and one of the leaders of Dada*) and
Artaud* found the Theatre Alfred Jarry*. Vitrac* has his first two plays produced there and
Artaud* directs them. Les Mystres de l'amour* is done as part of the program that opens the
theatre.
In Germany:
Piscator* starts his own theatre to present a new variation of theatre style, which will later be
known as "Epic," involving narration and numerous episodes and characters. He uses film,
cartoons, charts and an array of stage technologies including moving platforms and treadmills
to present expressionistic plays as Toller*'s Hurrah, We Live!*.
In the U.S. the first effective sound film makes a hit, The Jazz Singer*with Al Jolson* signals
that talking pictures have arrived. About 1,000 American marines are sent to China to protect
American interests.
Charles A. Lindbergh* flies non-stop New York to Paris. This makes a big splash.
1928
In America:
The Theatre Guild* begins a subscription series in six cities outside New York. Innovative
theater is on the rise. O'Neill*'s Strange Interlude* uses long "interior monologues" to express
the characters' inner thoughts. His Lazarus Laughed* is produced by the Theatre Guild*.
In Ireland:
A new theatre opens, the Gate Theatre*, to house productions of plays from other countries.
Meanwhile, Sean O'Casey* breaks with the Abbey Theatre* when he changes his style from
realistic to expressionistic, and moves to England.
In Spain:
Federico Garca Lorca* (1898-1936,) a lyric poet and dramatist from Andalusia, becomes the
most popular Spanish poet of his generation with the publication this year of his volume of
poetry, Gypsy Ballads*. His first full length play had been produced in 1920 but his fame as a
dramatist comes from his folk tragedies which he will write in the thirties.
In Germany:
Even more famous than Piscator* in exploring the intricacies of "epic theatre", is his assistant
at the Volksbuhne, Bertolt Brecht* (1898-1956). Brecht* contrasts epic theatre with the more
familiar dramatic theatre in several ways: epic theatre presents a narrative while dramatic
theatre has a plot, epic theatre is propagandist, attempting to rouse its audience to action while
dramatic theatre merely produces sensations for the audience to experience, and dramatic
scenes lead logically to one another while in epic theatre each scene is an entity. Brecht*'s
first major success comes this year with The Three-Penny Opera*, a musical adaptation
(music by Kurt Weill* 1900-50) of the John Gay* opera, The Beggar's Opera*. It will run for
400 performances. [Much of Brecht*'s work is in opposition to the rising Nazi influence,
(later it will be Communist) which will lead him to emigrate to Denmark, and then to America
along with Piscator* and Reinhardt* in 1933.]
In America:
Amelia Earhart* becomes the first woman to fly the Atlantic.
1929
In America:
O'Neill* comes out with Dynamo*, a really poor play, but with a terrific set design by Lee
Simonson*.
Elmer Rice* turns away from expressionism this year and presents a naturalistic play, Street
Scene*, about the slums of New York. It wins the Pulitzer Prize*.
In England:
Noel Coward*'s musical, Bittersweet*, is seen for the first, but hardly the last, time.
Barry Jackson* (1879-1961), (founder and director of the Birmingham Repertory Company*)
starts the Malvern Festival* this year.
In France:
Jacques Copeau*'s student group dissolves and several of the actors form the Compagnie des
Quinze* with Copeau*'s nephew, Michael Saint-Denis* (1897-1971,) at its head.
Jean Giraudoux* (1882-1944) is a novelist and dramatist who collaborates with the actordirector Louis Jouvet* to put on some of the finest plays of this period. There are numerous
French playwrights in the surealist- expressionist style between the two great wars, but few of
them are notable. Only Giraudoux* makes an impact that carries down to the present. His
themes are based on the major disparities - peace and war, life and death, liberty and destiny making the conflicts internal, bringing out the inner workings of his characters through an
elegance of language. He starts out as a novelist and is quite well known when he comes out
with his first play, Siegfried* (1928). By the time he writes Amphitryon 38* (1929) his
reputation has spread and it is produced in London and America as well as in France. Some of
his other works are: Tiger At The Gates - 1935, and Mad Woman of Chaillot* 1943 (produced
in 1945 after he died).
In America:
In March, Herbert Hoover* (1874-1964) becomes the 31st president of the U.S., just in time
to face catastrophe. In October there is the catastrophic stock market crash in New York that
precipitates a worldwide financial crisis. This begins the move toward the Great Depression*.
Falling prices, restricted credit, reduced production, bankruptcies, rising unemployment, runs
on banks and bank failures and a rapid fall in the securities market, all proceed like a row of
dominoes falling. Gangsters have been busy ever since Prohibition started, but this year they
have one of their more memorable internal fights. The St. Valentine's Day massacre in
Chicago wipes out seven rivals.
Literature is doing well in America. Thomas Wolfe* comes out with Look Homeward Angel*
and William Faulkner* publishes The Sound and the Fury*.
1930
In America
Maxwell Anderson* brings American blank verse to the stage with Elizabeth the Queen*.
Marc Connelly* Pulitzer Prize* winning play, Green Pastures is produced.
In England:
Noel Coward* comes out with what will be his classic comedy, Private Lives* , starring (of
course) himself and his friend and favorite actress, Gertrude Lawrence* (1898-1952).
This year the U.S. Congress gets a majority of Democrats and they push President Hoover* to
do something (he believes that the economy will regenerate spontaneously with out federal
help). A large public works program gets under way and Congress passes the Emergency
Relief Act. Unfortunately the U.S. also signs the Hawley-Smoot Tariff which raises rates and
slashes world trade. This one does nobody any good. Also, as we go into the thirties, there are
year after year of low rainfall, even drought in the American Great Plains, especially that
25,000 square miles of the prairie states known for low rainfall and high winds. All that land
had additional acres of native grasses plowed to make room for planting wheat during the
war. Much of it is not still under the plow, instead, it is returned to grazing or abandoned. As
the dry years persist, the land will begin to blow away and the term Dust Bowl* will become
significant. Thousands of tons of top soil will take to the air, burying farms and small towns
as it drops somewhere else. Thousands of farmers will lose their land and go west to become
migrant farmers in the California valleys.
Britain, Italy, France, Japan and the U.S. all sign the London Naval Reduction Treaty which
runs five years. It doesn't seem to do much good.
1931
In America:
One of those "new stagecraft" designers, Norman Bel Geddes*, designs an expressionistic
Hamlet* using steps, platforms, and imaginative lighting to represent the various scenes in
and around the castle.
Lee Strasberg* begins the Group Theatre*, modeled on the Moscow Art Theatre and
dedicated to Stanislavsky*'s acting ideals.
O'Neill* presents his trilogy, Mourning Becomes Electra*.
In France:
Giraudoux* writes Judith*.
In England:
The Old Vic* acquires the Sadler's Wells Theatre* and a ballet company is formed that will
become England's finest. At the Gate Theatre* in Dublin we find an actor, Orson Welles*
(1915-1985,) who will soon cross the Atlantic.
In Spain there is social unrest, a republican election victory and king Alfonso XIII* is
deposed and exiled.
In New York the Empire State Building opens in May and Al Capone* is convicted of tax
evasion in October. Pearl Buck* publishes The Good Earth.*
1932
In the United States:
The Worker's Drama League* becomes a national organization. Later it will change its name
to New Theatre League*. Most of its member groups are amateur, but next year a fully
professional organization, the Theatre Union* will be formed in New York and provide
leadership for the entire movement.
For the first time the Pulitzer Prize* in drama goes to a musical. Of Thee I Sing* by George S.
Kaufman*, Morrie Ryskind* and Ira Gershwin* who split the award for the book and lyrics
(George Gershwin* does the music) will become a popular favorite and a scathing satire of
the presidential election system.
Biography* by S.N. Behrman* contrasts tolerance with inhumanity.
By this year there are 14,000 movie houses wired for sound attracting seventy million
admissions a week. Theatre after theatre closes, converts to movie screens and opens as a
movie house. This strands road companies, throws stock companies out of work and cuts
opportunities for Vaudeville acts down to almost nothing. Sound films also put thousands of
musicians out of work since they replace the theatre orchestra. The unionization of theatre and
theatre rental costs put theatre tickets between $1.10 and $2.20 while movies cost only 25
cents. This is a real depression for everybody who works in live theatre.
All the arts are in terrible shape, writers, sculptors, musicians, painters and architects, all join
the unemployed in terrifying numbers.
In America: The summer brings the Bonus March on Washington (17,000 veterans of the
World War want the bonuses the government promised them now instead of later). In reaction
Hoover* reluctantly creates the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make more work. In
November Hoover* loses the presidential election and Franklin Delano Roosevelt* wins.
Color film (by Technicolor) is introduced. It will be a couple years before it reaches the big
screen (1934 in Walt Disney*'s cartoons). The Lindbergh* baby is kidnapped and then found
dead. The newspapers have a field day.
In the Soviet Union: The second five year plan begins even though there is famine in Russia.
In Germany: There are Presidential elections. The results are: Hindenberg 18 million, Hitler
11 million, and the Communists 5 million, which means there has to be a run-off. Hindenberg
wins in run-off but the Reichstag (parliament) has a peculiar line-up: Nazis 230, Socialists
133, Center 97, Communists 89. Hitler refuses Hindenberg's offer to become vice-chancellor
(Hitler gets German citizenship this year, remember, he was born in Austria).
1933
In America:
In New York, Anderson* again presents the turmoil of sixteenth century Great Britain in
blank verse with Mary of Scotland* which stars Helen Hayes*. Long runs are becoming
common, reaching their peak with Tobacco Road*, which will run for seven years.
This year the Actors Equity Association* establishes a minimum wage for its members. Other
unions follow suit and the constant demands for ever higher wages for stage hands, actors,
directors and playwrights takes its toll and fewer productions are mounted.
O'Neill* comes out with his only comedy, Ah, Wilderness!*.
In Germany:
Brecht*, Piscator*, Jessner* and Reinhardt* see the Nazis regime as menacing their work and
they all leave Germany this year. What with Hitler* coming to power in Germany, theatrical
personnel there have basically two choices - submit to the Nazi* dictated view of art or
emigrate. The best and most influential leave Germany (most eventually going to England and
America). Those who stay in Germany mostly confine themselves to historical works, writing
and producing plays that glorify the "Aryan" past. Social statement, once the hallmark of the
German theater, is "verboten." But the German artists who move to America continue to make
their mark and American theater will benefit immeasurably from the influx of these and other
refugees.
In Spain:
Garca Lorca* comes out with the first of his folk tragedies, Blood Wedding. He has
tremendous influence on Spanish theatre, both through his own plays and through his work
with the amateur touring company, La Barraca*. La Barraca* is the creation of the Spanish
Republic (in 1931,) and it is headed by Garca Lorca* with the mission of producing classical
plays in rural areas.
In Germany: Hitler is appointed Chancellor. When the Reichstag fire breaks out (burning the
parliament) the Nazi propaganda machine blames it on the Communists. Hermann Goering is
named Prussian Prime Minister, Goebbels is named Hitler's Minister of Propaganda. Hitler is
granted dictatorial powers (Enabling Law) and the first concentration camps are erected by
Nazis in Germany (Dachau) for political prisoners and Jews. The boycott of Jews begins,
German labor unions suppressed, political parties other than Nazis suppressed and 92 percent
of Germans vote for Nazis. In Spain: Jos Antnio Primo De Rivera* (son of the other Primo
De Rivera*) starts a Spanish political party, the Falange*. It is devoted to fascism* and will
have its own militia.
Japan withdraws from League of Nations
In Austria: Parliamentary government is suspended by Chancellor Dollfuss.
The U.S. is now at the depth of the Great Depression. Sixteen million people, one-third of the
work force, are unemployed. Roosevelt* is sworn in in March and Congress grants him wide
powers to deal with the Great Depression. The first Relief Act passes Congress at the end of
March, setting up the Civilian Conservation Corps* (C.C.C.) to put unemployed youth to
work. Six weeks later Congress establishes the Federal Emergency Relief Administration*
(F.E.R.A.) to grant federal funds to states for help in caring for the unemployed. In November
Congress establishes the Civil Works Administration* (C.W.A.) to create four million jobs for
men and women in desperate straits. Harry Hopkins* (1890-1946) heads the C.W.A. and, in
nine weeks puts more that 4,200,000 people to work building and improving roads,
playgrounds, schools, etc. The object is immediate help, but, in the theatrical area only 450
are employed in the next two years.
The 21st Amendment is passed (it repeals prohibition) and the U.S. forswears armed
intervention in Western Hemisphere nations.
1934
In the United States:
Realism is still important to the American stage. Yellow Jack* by Sidney Howard* is a semidocumentary play about the fight to control yellow fever and Lillian Hellman* touches on
lesbianism in her play The Children's Hour*. On the other hand, S.N. Behrman* presents a
comedy of manners with Rain from Heaven.
In England: John Gielgud* stuns English audiences with his brilliant portrayal of Hamlet*.
In France: Cocteau* delivers the third part of his Oedipus trilogy, The Infernal Machine*.
In Spain: Garca Lorca* brings out his second folk tragedy, Yerma.*
In Austria there is Revolution which overthrows the Social Democrats.
In France there is a General strike.
In the Facist circles, Hitler* and Mussolini* meet in Venice. The Austrian Chancellor,
Dollfuss, is assassinated by Nazis. Finally, the elderly Hindenberg dies and a plebiscite votes
in Hitler* as Fuhrer (leader). In Russia: Stalin*'s close collaborator, Serge Kirov, is
assassinated in Leningrad and the purge of the Communist party begins.
In China, Communist forces leave their besieged strongholds in the South and begin the Long
March to the North (1934-35).
Japan renounces the Washington treaties (of 1922 and 30).
In America the government's struggle to deal with the depression is proceeding along more
orderly lines. The Civil Works Administration* (C.W.A.) is officially closed in April and its
unfinished work is carried over into the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief
Administration*
. Finally U.S. troops pull out of Haiti.
1935
The Federal Theatre Project**
President Roosevelt* has been coming up with all kinds of programs to help with the massive
unemployment and this year Congress creates the Works Progress Administration* (W.P.A.)
based on the successful experience with the Civil Works Administration* (C.W.A.).
After much consultation with all kinds of theatre people, the President, Harry Hopkins*, and
his assistant, Jacob Baker, come up with a scheme to create meaningful theatrical employment
for the whole range of theatrically unemployed, from dancers and actors, through directors
and designers down to box-office personnel and ushers. This scheme is called the Federal
Theatre Project*, and is funded by the W.P.A.
The Federal Theatre Project* is the most influential theatrical force in America at this time.
Almost every actor, playwright, director or designer who will be prominent during and just
after the next war will work in this project and it will present many of the newer, experimental
forms of theatre, changing theatre across the country since it is the first (and only) project that
encompasses the entire country.
The Federal Theatre Project* is headed by a remarkable woman named Hallie Flanagan*
(1890-1969) who had assisted George Pierce Baker* at Harvard, taught at Grinnell and, more
recently, at Vassar, where for the past ten years she has been director of the Vassar
Experimental Theatre and studying contemporary European theatre abroad. She is chosen in
large part because of her knowledge of government-funded European theatre and her
exceptional talent for organizing.
As a way of putting the largest number of theatre workers into a working situation
immediately, Hallie Flanagan* suggests dramatizing contemporary events in a series of
"Living Newspapers"* which would have a rapid cinematic form and use a whole bunch of
people doing a lot of small bits. She suggests this as a more useful alternative than putting on
regular plays with "star" parts and less employment opportunities. This suggestion clinches
the administration's determination to have Flanagan* head the Federal Theatre Project*.
The first problem for the Federal Theatre Project* is to organize the entire country and find
where, and how many unemployed theatrical workers there are. A plan emerges to organize
the country into five regional theatre centers (in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston
and New Orleans) as production centers for a professional company, actor training, research,
service and playwrighting for their own region. Buildings are planned for the metropolitan
areas and the companies are to tour their region with their productions. An important part of
the plan is the development of playwrights who will build a body of work for each region.
Directors for each region are sought. E. C. Mabie* (prominent for his work on the National
Theatre Conference of University and Community Theatres) becomes director of the Midwest
region and efforts are made to keep, for the New York City post, the already helpful lawyer
and playwright, Elmer Rice* [who is currently busy trying to put together the Theatre
Alliance* (which, he hopes, will be partially funded by the government)]. The announcement
of the founding of the Federal Theatre Project* and of its director, Hallie Flanagan* is made
by Harry Hopkins* at the National Theatre Conference at Iowa State University as they lay
the cornerstone for Mabie*'s University Theatre, which will be a center, not only for the
region, but for the entire Midwest. Much of the commercial theatre organizations are opposed
to this governmental effort. Unions, managers and prominent actors and directors protest that
any theatre work done by the "unemployed" is bound to be second rate and (a strange
simultaneous thought) it will compete with the commercial theatre. The pay is extremely low,
but it is set at a level to provide food and shelter for the previously unemployed. For these
reasons few commercial theatre people accepted positions in the administration of the project.
Finally, in October, the first meeting of the regional and state directors takes place. These
include: Eddie Dowling*, Broadway actor-producer, for nationwide vaudeville, circus and
variety Charles Coburn*, actor and director, for New England Elmer Rice*, assisted by Philip
Barber*, dramatists, actor, stage-manager, for New York Group Theatre, and Eastern region
Jasper Deeter*, of Hedgerow Theatre repertory group, for Pennsylvania E. C. Mabie*,
Director of Iowa University Theatre, for Midwest Thomas Wood Stevens*, originator and
director of the Globe, for Chicago Frederic McConnell*, director of the Cleveland
Community Theatre, for Ohio Gilmor Brown*, director of Pasadena Community Playhouse,
assisted by J. Howard Miller*, former actor and stage-manager for Max Reinhardt*, for the
West Glenn Hughes*, dramatist and director of the University of Washington Theatre, for
Seattle Frederick Koch*, creator and director of the Carolina Playmakers, and John McGee *,
dramatist-director, for the South Rosamund Gilder*, associate editor of Theatre Arts
Monthly*, for the Bureau of Research and Publication.
Five large units in New York are formed to address different interests. Each one housed in its
own theatre building and each playing to audiences paying 25 or 50 cents admission prices.
These units are:
The Living Newspaper*, sponsored by the New York Newspaper Guild, supervised by Morris
Watson
The popular price theatre, to present original plays by new authors, under Edward Goodman
The experimental theatre, to present new plays in new ways, under Virgil Geddes and James
Light
The Negro theatre, under John Houseman* and Rose McClendon*
The tryout theatre, under Otto Metzger*, sponsored by the League of New York Theatres
(who pay theatre and set costs and get to pick up any winners for commercial use).
It might be useful to note here that the year (1934) before before taking this federal job, while
visiting England, Hallie Flanagan* persuaded T.S. Eliot* to write a play for the project on the
theme of the murder of Thomas Becket. He does, and this year the New York unit for new
plays puts on Eliot's* Murder In The Cathedral*.
In addition to these, there are the carry-over, free projects from Civil Works Administration*
(C.W.A.), playing schools, settlement houses, clubs and churches: a large Gilbert and
Sullivan* company vaudeville units, marionette units, a minstrel show
The Negro theatre, the Bureau of Research and Publication, the new publication (beginning
publication in November,) the Federal Theatre Magazine*, and the Living Newspaper* are all
nationwide activities originating in New York. The Negro theatre, for example, will
eventually have units in ten different cities.
The Living Newspaper* (which Elmer Rice* accepted the directorship for in New York City)
under Morris Watson and sponsored by the New York Newspaper Guild, is set up like a city
daily with editor-in-chief, managing editor, city editor, reporters, copyreaders. They research
everything printed to make it possible to create authoritative dramatic treatment, both historic
and contemporary, of current problems.
The first edition for the New York production will be Ethiopia* (1936,) partly because of the
Italian invasion of that country and partly because of the more pragmatic need to do
something with a large troupe of black Africans stranded here while on an operatic company
tour, (which gives you some idea of the interesting compromises that have to be made in this
project).
Another federal project is the formation of the American National Theatre and Academy
(ANTA)*. This is created to draw theatre out of New York and spread it around the country.
Little is accomplished at this time, but it will become important after the next war.
Other places in 1935 In France:
Giraudoux* writes The Trojan War Shall Not Take Place.
In England:
Barry Jackson* turns his Birmingham Theatre* over to the City of Birmingham, making it
England's first civic theatre.
In America:
Clifford Odets* presents two plays that call for people to respond to social injustices; Waiting
for Lefty* and Awake and Sing*. Paradise Lost*, also produced this year, is a story of
individuals struggling against life's inequities.
Robert E. Sherwood* creates an allegorical cross-section of American life in The Petrified
Forest*.
George Gershwin* comes out with his classic opera on an American theme, Porgy and Bess*
tells the tale of poor black people in modern society.
Kurt Weill* leaves Germany and emigrates to America this year. He will become a citizen
and write sophisticated, and popular musicals.
In Germany: The Saarland is incorporated into Germany after a plebiscite. The Nazis
repudiate the Versailles treaty and reintroduce compulsory military service. There is an
Anglo-German Naval agreement. The passing of the Nuremberg Laws against Jews begins the
severe persecution.
In Russia there are "show-trials" to remove dissidents.
In Italy: Mussolini* invades Abyssinia and Ethiopia in an effort to recreate the "Roman
Empire".
Persia changes its name to Iran.
In the United States, Huey Long (the Louisiana "Kingfish") is assassinated.
Comedian Will Rogers* and aviator Wiley Post die in an Alaska plane crash.
Congress passes the Social Security Act
1936
In America:
With the Depression in full swing, people are looking for something to laugh at. End of
Summer* by S.N. Behrman* hits the boards and Sherwood*'s farce about the horrors of war,
Idiot's Delight*, opens. The team of Moss Hart* and George S. Kaufman* write a delightful
farce, You Can't Take It With You*, about a family of eccentrics whose very ordinary
daughter wants to marry into the upper classes.
In Italy,
the Academy of Dramatic Art* opens, fostering the principles of Stanislavsky*, Copeau* and
Reinhardt*.
In Russia:
The Second Moscow Art Theatre* is dissolved and all theatres are placed under the Central
Direction of Theatres, gradually suppressing the avant-garde movement there.
In Spain:
Garca Lorca* finishes his last great folk tragedy, The House of Bernarda Alba*. He is shot
by Franco*'s soldiers in the outbreak of the Civil War. This play will be produced
posthumously. His international reputation is ensured and his folk tragedies will become
classics.
In France,
Gabriel Marcel* (the existentialist philosopher, remember?) comes out with his most
important play, Le Chemin de crte*.
The Spanish Civil War begins in July when General Franco* (1892-1975) leads an army
revolt in Morocco (across the Straits of Gibraltar in Africa) and marches back to Spain to help
the right-wing rebels. The war is between the Nationalists* (the conservatives, landed
aristocracy, Roman Catholic Church, military leaders and the fascist Falange* party) and the
Loyalists* (liberals, anarchists, socialists and Communists). The Nationalists* take over the
conservative areas in northern Spain and will be supported by Fascist Italy and Nazi
Germany, while the Loyalists* are strong in Catalonia and the Basque provinces and will get
support from the Soviet Union. It will turn out to be the rehearsal for World War Two.
In Central Europe, Germany occupies the Rhineland and renews military conscription.
Elections in Germany give Hitler 99 percent of the vote and a Four-year plan inaugurated.
Germany begins building the Siegfried Line. An Anti-Communism pact is signed by Germany
and Japan
In the East, Chaing Kai-shek enters Canton.
In England, King Geroge V dies and his son Edward VIII succeeds, but there is gossip about
his relationship with the American divorcee, Mrs. Wallis Simpson.
In the Soviet Union: What with his conflicts with Stalin,* Trotsky exiled from Russia and
settles in Mexico.
In America the Boulder Dam is completed and Margaret Mitchell* publishes Gone With The
Wind*.
1937
In America:
Odets* tells the tale of a young boxer with a gift for music trying to beat the system in Golden
Boy*.
Orson Welles* (1915-1985) and John Houseman* (1902- ) open the Mercury Theatre* in
New York to present plays the Federal Theatre Project* refused. Besides presenting works by
the newer authors, it produces classics in a new style. Welles* previously produced a
Macbeth* set in Haiti with an all-black cast. This year he presents a production of Julius
Caesar* as a commentary on fascism.
In England:
Lillian Baylis* dies and the Royal Victoria* comes into the capable hands of Tyrone
Guthrie*, noted for his novel interpretations of standard works.
Poland refuses to sign an agreement returning Danzig to Germany, this will lead to disaster.
Russia, continues to have more show trials and purge the Red Army of U.S.S.R. Generals.
This will have terrible consequences for the defense of the country.
In England, Edward resigns to marry Wally Simpson and George VI is crowned King of
Great Britain. He will have a tough row to hoe.
In the Far East: The Chinese Communists and the Kuomintang suspend their civil war to fight
the Japanese. Chaing Kai-shek unites with Communists, led by Mao Tse-tung and Chou Enlai. Together they make Chungking the capital of China. Despite this Chinese unity, Japan
seizes Peking, Tientsin, Shanghai, Nanking [later to become infamous for the "Rape of
Nanking", a very well documented and very ugly event] and Hangchow.
In Germany: The Nazis are fostering unrest in the areas beyond her borders where a large
number of Germans have settled. There are riots in the Germanis Sudeten area of
Czechoslovakia. Sudeten Germans leave the Czech Parliament in protest. This will provide
excuses for the Germans to come in soon.
In Great Britain, A new government takes over under Neville Chamberlain* and Lord Halifax
visits Hitler (this marks the beginning of deliberate appeasement).
The American pilot, Amelia Earhart,* and her copilot, Fred Noonan are lost in the Pacific on
their way to the International Exhibition in San Francisco.
1938
In France:
Jean Anoulih's Thieves Carnival
In America:
Kurt Weill* writes the music and Maxwell Anderson* does the book for Knickerbocker
Holiday*.
Lillian Hellman* depicts the greed of the industrialists in the-turn-of-the-century South in The
Little Foxes*. Robert E. Sherwood* reminds Americans of the high ideals upon which the
country was founded with Abe Lincoln in Illinois*. Both these plays will become big
successes on the silver screen.
Thornton Wilder* presents one of the most popular plays ever written, Our Town*. This
simple story of a small New Hampshire town will be seen in every corner of the country as a
favorite vehicle of little theater groups. His Merchant of Yonkers*, produced this same year,
will become better known as the comedy The Matchmaker*, and later still as the musical
Hello, Dolly*.
Mother Courage and Her Children is Brecht*'s paean to a woman's strength and endurance
through the Thirty Years' War.
The Playwrights' Company* is formed by Maxwell Anderson*, Elmer Rice*, Sidney
Howard*, Robert E. Sherwood*, and S.N. Behrman*. In addition to their own plays, they will
also present works by other authors.
O'Neill* writes More Stately Mansions*, but it won't be produced until after his death. Like a
number of his posthumously produced plays, it will be done first in Stockholm (in 1962).
In Germany: The Saarland is incorporated into Germany after a plebiscite. The Nazis
repudiate the Versailles treaty and reintroduce compulsory military service. There is an
Anglo-German Naval agreement. The passing of the Nuremberg Laws against Jews begins the
severe persecution.
In Russia there are "show-trials" to remove dissidents.
In Italy: Mussolini* invades Abyssinia and Ethiopia in an effort to recreate the "Roman
Empire".
In the United States, Huey Long (the Louisiana "Kingfish") is assassinated.
Comedian Will Rogers* and aviator Wiley Post die in an Alaska plane crash.
Congress passes the Social Security Act
Central Europe:
After the fiasco at Munich where Britain and France sanction it, Germany occupies
Czechoslovakia.
The Far East: The Japanese enter Tsingtao, install a Chinese puppet government in Nanking,
withdraw from League of Nations and take the Chinese provinces of Canton and Hankow.
In America: Congress passes the Naval Expansion Act and sets a national minimum wage.
Orson Welles* produces his radio dramatization of H. G. Wells War of the Worlds* on
October 30th and causes a nationwide panic.
1939
In America:
The Philadelphia Story* by Phillip Barry* takes audiences on a romp through the marital
tangles of America's upper class. This play remains popular and is seen frequently on stage. It
also becomes a very successful movie starring Jimmy Stewart* and Katherine Hepburn*, and
reappears in 1954 as a movie musical, High Society*, with Bing Crosby*, Frank Sinatra* and
Grace Kelly*.
Playwright William Saroyan* endorses the simple life with My Heart's in the Highlands* and
The Time of Your Life*.
In France: Ondine* by Giraudoux* is presented.
The Spanish Civil War comes to an end with over a million dead in battles and atrocities.
Italy annexes Albania in January.
September 1 Germany invades Poland and annexes Danzig - Britain and France declare war
on Germany, September 3, U.S.S.R. invades Poland from east - also Finland (for this, the
USSR is expelled from League of Nations).
In America the N.Y. World's Fair opens and Gone With The Wind*, the movie, comes out.
Einstein* alerts Roosevelt* concerning the Atomic bomb possibility. The U.S. declares
neutrality in the European war but Roosevelt* proclaims a limited national emergency.
Afterword
1940 will reveal things going from bad to worse in Europe and Asia, America launching its
first peacetime draft and okaying a lot of surplus war material for sale to Britain, including 50
elderly destroyers. 1941 will bring America the Lend-Lease Act, the Atlantic Charter, and,
finally, in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, declarations of war. America is
now into the Second World War, and it will be a doozy.
Theatre, obviously, is once again at the service of the war effort in all the various countries.
This is total war and so there is total commitment of civilian resources to the war effort.
Those theatre practitioners who are not in uniform are all busy entertaining those who are,
selling war bonds and making propaganda films. The Post-war world will be a very different
place.
For additional information see: Arena; The Story of the Federal Theatre by Hallie Flanagan.
New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1940 and W.P.A. Theatre Records, Washington, D.C.
next PartFour
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PART IV
Variety and Spice - the Fruit
Introduction
The last half of the twentieth century brings all kinds of theatre from previous cultures and
ages together in a bewildering array of variety and influence. Finally Asia, Africa and various
"native" cultures begin to have real influence on theatre. The result is a rich range of theatrical
events. However, film and television dominate the entertainment field and they, in turn, are
dominated primarily by the United States. It's not until the middle of this period that we begin
to see real variety, each put forward by some "minority." Toward the end of the period these
"minority" works begin to blend together and enter into the mainstream theatrical world.
The society this theatre reflects is equally varied and diverse. Increasingly, each societal
element is instantly communicated to the rest of the world through progressively rapid and
comprehensive telecommunication. While this period begins with the infancy of television,
that all-seeing eye will become more and more important to society, as well as to theatre, as
the period progresses. The societal changes are monumental.
Changes in Society
We begin this period with the Second World War which is really a continuation of the First
World War. As a whole, this war sequence makes the greatest worldwide social change ever
known, greater than the fall of Rome, the Renaissance or the Industrial Revolution. After the
war everything gets turned around. Prior to this time nations have been parochial, concerned
only with their immediate neighborhood. Now they are forced to take a wider view and
consider the whole world. This will take some time. Prior to this time Europe has dominated
the world. Now leadership shifts to the United States and she is forced to take center stage in
shaping world events. Prior to this time the primary drive of many European nations has been
to be as much like the historic Rome as possible which, of course, includes a Roman Empire.
This means practicing "Imperialism" and building "Colonial" empires. The movement now is
directly opposite, toward "decolonization" (losing the colonies.) Former colonies and "areas
of influence" break out in rampant nationalism, and soon every ethnic, linguistic and
territorial minority wants to be a nation on its own. Europe, on the other hand, will move
closer toward being a "united states" of Europe. For this reason it may be useful to review the
main features of this conflict as they developed over the first half of the twentieth century.
Background For The War
The forces which moved throughout the first half of the Twentieth Century and led up to the
Second World War are fairly clear in retrospect.
The First World War The old empires of earlier days began to fall apart. The Ottoman Empire (centered in Turkey)
had been decaying for a long time and European powers were circling like a pack of sharks,
taking bites out of it whenever they could. The Austrian empire (or Austro-Hungarian empire,
if you prefer) seemed to be doing all right, but it, too, was failing. All the jostling for more
pieces of the pie led to the First World War. After that shocking experience of the first
"modern" war there was exhaustion of both the European victors and the losers. Industrial
capacity as well as population suffered from the heroic effort of this warfare.
In terms of populations, more lives were lost to cold, famine and disease (even among
soldiers) than to battle death. Over ten million soldiers died (twice as many as had died in all
the European wars in the 125 years preceding.) Civilian deaths are more unclear. The Spanish
Influenza epidemic had spread around the world in the last years of the war and is said to have
caused six million deaths (1,200,000 in the United States). The estimates of total civilian
deaths attributed directly or indirectly to the war range from ten million to fifteen million.
In terms of property losses there is also little agreement. One estimate suggests losses
approaching 37 billion (in 1920 dollars). The losses attendant on the war are even harder to
calculate. There were production losses caused by drawing manpower into military service
(45 billion dollars), war relief costs (one billion) and the cost of the war to neutral nations
(1.75 billion). Whatever the dollar figure, by the end of the war Europe lay in shambles,
production capacity ruined and even agriculture in terrible shape.
The peace treaties of Versailles (28 June 1919) between the Allies and Germany; of St.
Germain (10 September 1919) with Austria; of Neuilly (27 November 1919) with Bulgaria;
and of Trianon (4 June 1920) with Hungary, brought about major frontier changes, the
emergence of a number of new states and the enlargement of others (on the winning side).
The map of Europe was re-drawn (again) as a result of the dissolution of the two failing
empires (who were on the losing side) and according to who were the victors and the losers
engaged in the war. As a result the following changes occurred:
NEW STATES CREATED: Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were freed from Russia
Poland was reconstituted from the empires who had shared in its partition at the end of the
18th century. Czechoslovakia was created by putting together the old Hapsburg "crown lands"
of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, together with Slovakia, and Carpathian Ruthenia from
former Hungarian territory. Yugoslavia was created by assembling the former independent
kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro, the former crown land of Croatia, the former Turkish
provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Hapsburg provinces of Slovenia and Dalmatia
(by the end of this period this will prove to be a very bad idea indeed).
TERRITORIAL ENLARGEMENTS: Romania gained Transylvania from Hungary, the
Dobruja from Bulgaria and Bessarabia from Russia. Italy retained the North African colonies
of Libya and Italian Somaliland and acquired Eritrea.
The war and the settlements following it were accompanied by massive migrations of various
ethnic groups. Ethnic peoples who found themselves in territories which were predominantly
something other than native to them fled to join their own groups. For example: 200.000
Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians fled Russia to the newly reestablished countries native to
them. 1,300,000 Greeks fled Turkey and hundreds of thousands of other ethnic groups
relocated.
This mass migration continued after the initial post-war readjustment because of two new
political movements that made people uncomfortable (not to mention actively persecuted and
even eliminated) where they are. These are the Communist Russian Revolution which led to a
continuing tide of refugees (650,000 fled from the Ukraine) moving into Europe, and the
growing Fascist movement in Italy, Spain and Germany which led to an ever increasing tide
of refugees (between 1933-39 290,000 left Germany).
COLONIAL EMPIRES AT END OF WW I FRANCE controlled: Syria, Lebanon, Algeria. Morroco, Indo-China (Laos, Cambodia)
French West Africa. Madagascar, French Congo, French Guiana Lesser Antilies GREAT
BRITAIN (United Kingdom) controlled: Iraq, Palestine, Transjordan, Egypt, Sudan, southern
and eastern fringes of Arabia, India, Burma, Ceylon, Somialiland, Nepal and the Malay States
(in addition to the Commonwealth which included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, British
Honduras, British Guiana, Bahamas, Bermuda, Falklands, Union of South Africa, Rhodesia,
Kenya, Nigeria, Gold Coast, Uganda, part of New Guniea, Samoa, New Hebrides, Fiji,
Solomon Islands NETHERLANDS - Dutch East Indies (Sumatra, Borneo, half of New
Guinea, Java, Celebes) Dutch Guiana
BETWEEN THE WARS By the 1920's the European empires in Asia and North Africa reached their greatest extent.
The increasing demand for oil to fuel the industry and armies of western countries gave
special meaning to the discoveries of large oil resources in the Middle East.
The struggle between imperialism and nationalism increased. The countries of Asia and North
Africa were, for the most part, countries of ancient literate civilization, with traditions of
independence. There was increasing opposition to colonial rule in these areas leading to a
mixture of repression and concession (Revolts in Morocco were suppressed, the British
granted Afghanistan independence in 1921). In India the Indian Nationalist Congress, led by
Mahatma Gandhi was gathering wide popular support. The world wide depression of the
thirties added fuel to the fire.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION 1929-1939 The American stock market crash of 1929 was the signal but by no means the cause. The
dramatic increase in production (like all that wheat planted on the American plains) following
the war was not matched by a corresponding increase in demand. Profits were big in the
developed nations and for the industrialists, but wages lagged behind profits and basic
commodity exporters (cotton, etc.) found prices for their goods falling off. The dislocations of
the war affecting international finance were never resolved (who owed who what, and who
pays for all the lost loans, stuff like that) and the slump was touched off by the precipitous fall
in stock prices in October 1929. In the scramble for liquidity that followed, funds flowed back
to America from Europe and, without that prop, European prosperity collapsed. The entire
world was affected.
UNEMPLOYMENT - In many industrial nations over a quarter of the labor force was thrown
out of work. A new economic world order was struggling to be born, but it would take the
next world war to accomplish this. Rearmament was the unemployment solution of choice in
Germany and the United Kingdom, but France and America didn't take this way out.
Economically it was every country for itself and this revival of economic nationalism went
hand-in-hand with a new intensity in international politics. Almost no country came out of the
depression without undergoing some dramatic domestic transformation. 1- In Africa, Asia and
Latin America, nationalist and revolutionary movements gained new bases of support. 2- In
America and France a liberal and democratic approach unleashed waves of strikes and trade
union organization which stimulated numerous efforts at reform. 3- Much more common was
the path to the right. Fascist movements swept Japan and Europe.
THE WORLD MOVES TOWARD THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1931-1941 marks the breakdown of the international security system set up in 1919. This
centered around the League of Nations which was designed to prevent a dispute between two
states escalating into a general war. Unfortunately the League couldn't rely on American
support (the president couldn't get the Senate to ratify joining the League) and the Soviet
Union never played a major role (it was still busy finishing its revolution.) Consequently,
world leadership fell to France and Great Britain who were unwilling or unable to deter the
following events that were outlawed by the League of Nations:
ITALY- In 1935, Italy takes Ethiopia (from bases in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland.) There
was a failure of league of nations to act on Ethiopia's behalf. In 1936 there is the creation of
the Rome-Berlin Axis (they agree on their political interests.) In 1938, Italy claimed French
Territory. In 1939 Italy annexed Albania.
JAPAN- Between 1931-41 Japan begins her move for Asian expansion. In 1933 Japan takes
Manchuria by military force. In 1937-39 Japan takes over Northern China, central China and
Chinese coastline and northern Indo-China (French.)
SPANISH CIVIL WAR - 1936-1939 This involves a fascist side [composed of the military,
political right, Catholic Church with German and Italian volunteers and military aid] against
the 'Popular Front' government [made up of republicans, anti-clericals, anarchists, socialists,
and Communists, autonomous-seeking Basque and Catalan factions (all with Soviet military
aid).] The political leaders in Europe, Great Britain and France, initiated (against widespread
criticism) an international Non-intervention Agreement [to prevent escalation into a
Mediterranean conflict.] As a result, the main forces "intervening" were the fascist German
and Italian governments, who provided lots of planes, tanks and armament. The Soviets
supply some for the other side.
Second World War and Its Aftermath
The war is really a continuation of the First World War. It gradually sucks almost all nations
into it in a whirlwind of destruction. When it's over everything is a mess, except the Western
Hemisphere and some of Russia. The nations of the world attempt to do a better job than the
now-defunct League of Nations was able to do. They come up with the United Nations. The
world at the end of World War Two is a very different one from anything that went before.
Unfortunately it takes quite a while for society to realize this. All the colonies are clamoring
for self-government, the Middle East is in ferment, and the much-abused Jews are getting a
homeland in Palestine in the middle of Arabs who do not want them there. Much of the world
is devastated by the fighting and this is complicated by the growing antagonism between the
Communist USSR and Capitalist America. This unresolved antagonism between the western
democracies and the Soviet version of communism poisons all aspects of American society,
giving rise to a variety of ultra-right responses like "McCarthyism." This is, of course
reflected in the theatre.
Antagonism breaks out in the first post-war "Police action" undertaken by the United Nations
when the communist part of Korea (north) attacks the rest (the south) of the country. This fans
the flames of anti-communist hysteria in the west (especially in the United States.) This
particular fire storm is hardly over when the French are driven out of their Indo-China
colonies by nationalist forces that are also communist [the Soviets have been helping aspiring
nationalists ever since the Spanish Civil War.] Now the Chinese communists (who gradually
won out over the nationalists) are also giving lots of aid (as they do in Korea and will in
Africa and Latin America.)
The confusion and agony of involvement in the conflict in Vietnam occupies the western
democracies, particularly the United States, for many years. The turmoil in the Middle East
continues, as do the avalanche of colonies becoming new nations. The realization that the
world has changed irrevocably seems to erupt in the "sixties" cultural rebellion. The time of
communes, flower-children, "make love not war," Zen Buddhism, Woodstock and the whole
range of counter-culture arrives and turns Western society on its ear. The American battles for
civil rights are fought and some of them are even won, after a fashion.
All this social turmoil ushers in the decade of the 70s with its emphasis on minorities, on
women, Afro-Americans, Latin Americans, Indians, etc. The inevitable back-lash to the
liberal 60s and 70s comes with the attempt to reconcile how the Vietnam war affected
America and other attempts to deal with the cultural changes rampant in American society.
Asia is beginning to blossom economically and some sort of social stability grows. Slowly
Latin America tries to give up alternating revolution with military dictatorships. Africa
continues to try to develop some way for each new emerging nation to govern without
degenerating into genocide and unending civil war. The Middle East continues to be a hot-bed
of conflict.
It is not clear what the final decade will bring, but it starts with the dissolution of the
monolithic communist Soviet Union and the Eastern European nations built by the Soviets
start out on their own. The economic and environmental disasters of all these years of forced
economy begin to be shared with the rest of Europe which is finally making itself into a
united community. Some of the dissolving political units in the Balkans are still proving that
this part of the world is a congenital trouble spot, as is the Middle East.
The Theatre In Its Social Context
The theatrical center of the world now shifts from Paris to New York. English replaces French
as the international language and even French playwrights are not internationally accepted
until they are produced in London and New York in English. Realism, in some variant,
continues to be the mainstream with romanticism and melodrama filling in as the popular fare.
All of the "isms" that filled the experimental theatres before the war are swept away in the
cataclysmic events of that war. When the dust settles, the anguish and despair of western
civilization crystallizes into Absurdism. France, as befits the battlefield of the war, nurtures
the beginnings of the Absurdist movement.
One of the reasons the theatrical center moves to America is that many of the major European
theatrical figures came here to escape the spreading Nazi influence. This is very evident in the
one experimental style that survives from before the war to continue to flourish afterward.
This is the Epic theatre developed by Bertholt Brecht. As a production style it will be even
more influential that as a style of playwrighting.
As recovery from the war begins to take hold, mainstream realism comes up with a new, postwar, hero. The societal changes are so swift that the changes in the hero last only a decade.
The spectacular rise of television, followed rapidly by the delivery systems of cable and
satellite, cause theatre, film and television to come ever closer in content, talent pools and
production styles. The audience for television grows by geometric leaps, covering the globe.
Consequently, while many different cultures are influencing each other, there is a concurrent
rise in specialized theatre, film and television to meet the specialized markets that are
emerging.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.............................The 40s We have another War and it's Absurd.
chap18
CHAPTER NINETEEN.............................The 50s Realism and Romanticism continue to hold
their own with some changes chap19
CHAPTER TWENTY...............................The 60s The American Musical Comes of Age and
So Does Social Protest chap20
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE...........................The 70s Social Activism takes a new turn and
it's Living Theatre. chap21
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO...........................The 80s Alternative Theatre comes of Age
chap22
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.........................The 90s Technology Triumphant Theatre
becomes global and blends with Movies and Television. chap23
next chap18
go back to PART III Introduction

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The 40s

We have another War and it's Absurd.
Introduction
This decade marks the culmination of colonial and imperial greed and the most extravagant
and extensive war ever waged. The atomic age arrives and scares the hell out of everybody
and at the end of the war Europe is concerned that it may become a nuclear battlefield in any
struggle between the two super powers that emerge, the Soviet Union and the United States.
In the war, and in the aftermath, every major country is involved and all the others are
affected. Since the war is very much about empires, who has them and who wants them, we
might take a quick look at how the major colonial empires stacked up at the beginning of
World War II.
Colonial Empires As The War Starts
In Asia
Japan covets the colonial possessions held by European powers in the Far East. These are the
territories Japan will overrun in the first year of the war (except for India where they barely
get to assault the frontiers).
These territories and their European rulers are: FRANCE controls: Indo-China (Laos,
Cambodia, Vietnam.) NETHERLANDS controls: the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Sumatra,
Borneo, half of New Guinea, Java, Celebes) and Dutch Guiana. GREAT BRITAIN (United
Kingdom) controls: India, Burma, Ceylon, Somialiland, Nepal and the Malay States, (in
addition to the Commonwealth which includes part of New Guinea, Samoa, New Hebrides,
Fiji and the Solomon Islands.)
In Africa (North Africa)
Germany and Italy both intend to take as much as possible (remember that Italy has already
made a start by conquering Ethiopia). FRANCE controls: Algeria, Morroco, French West
Africa, Madagascar and the French Congo. GREAT BRITAIN (United Kingdom) controls:
Egypt, Sudan, (in addition to the Commonwealth which included Union of South Africa,
Rhodesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Gold Coast and Uganda).
The Middle East
Oil is so vital that the colonial powers are not about to let any aggressor come near these
territories. FRANCE controls: Syria and Lebanon GREAT BRITAIN (United Kingdom)
controls: Iraq, Palestine, Transjordan and the southern and eastern fringes of Arabia (you
know, places like Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Emirates, things like that,) all made accessible
by the fact that the Brits own the Suez Canal.
The Pacific
Japan does not seem to want to conquer these but they are in harms way as Japan begins her
expansion. GREAT BRITAIN (United Kingdom) controls, through the Commonwealth:
Australia, and New Zealand. UNITED STATES has control of the Philippines, the Hawaiian
Islands and several very small atoll islands like Midway.
The Western Hemisphere
There seems to be no danger here from direct aggression by any member of the Axis
(although Argentina is so sympathetic with the Germans that she doesn't join the Allies in
declaring war against them until it's almost over in 1945).
FRANCE controls: French Guiana (on the northeast coast of South America) and a number of
islands in the Lesser Antilies (all those places the cruise ships visit in the Caribbean). GREAT
BRITAIN (United Kingdom) controls, through the Commonwealth: Canada, British
Honduras, British Guiana, Bahamas, Bermuda and the Falklands (those islands down off
Argentina).
Europe
The Immediate Background The smaller European nations get the definite impression that another war is brewing and they
do not want to be involved this time. In 1937 Belgium declares neutrality and in 1938 there's
the Copenhagen declaration of neutrality which includes: Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands,
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania. Unfortunately this does none of the
participants any good what-so-ever and they are all (except Sweden) going to be overrun by
advancing armies.
Italy and Germany are both suffering from inferiority complexes. Italy had joined the Allies in
the last war against Germany and she resents not being regarded as one of the "great powers."
Under the sway of Mussolini*, Italy is bent on becoming a modern Roman Empire or, at least,
gaining enough prestige to count as a "great power."
Germany is still resentful over how she was treated in the settlement after World War One,
and, she also wants a great empire. Under Hitler*, Germany is pursuing the acquisition of
what she calls "lebensraum" (living room) where Germans can expand and take over vital
resources (like oil, coal and iron ore). Apparently this expansion also includes acquiring great
pools of "inferior" people who will be suitable for forced labor in the mines and factories.
This expansion has already begun in Germany's acquisition (Anschluss - indissoluble union)
of Austria in March, 1938. In September, 1938, with the reluctant blessing of Great Britain
and France, Germany takes a big bite out of Czechoslovakia (which was artificially put
together after the last war and has substantial German-speaking minorities in the
Sudetenland). Since Poland and Hungary, each grab a piece of Czechoslovakia for
themselves, there aren't too many people objecting to this dismemberment of a democratic
state.
Hitler is now on a roll. He wants a corridor through Poland to the Baltic port city of Danzig,
whose citizens are primarily Germans. By now it is March 1939. The British Prime Minister,
Neville Chamberlain*, has been taking a lot of flack for letting Germany gobble up the
Czechoslovakian Sudetenland. So, Chamberlain* decides that the British will guarantee
Poland's independence. This is something of a set-back for Herr Hitler* who now has to come
up with a new plan. Much to his surprise, he gets an overture from Stalin*, the Premier of the
Soviet Union. This is a real shock since Germany has been planning to invade Russia again
(since they were stopped in the First World War). Hitler* and Stalin*, it turns out, both have a
strong short-term interest in not fighting each other. They sign a nonaggression pact which
includes secret agreements whereby each can take over certain European countries without
interference from the other. Hitler* gets western Poland and Stalin* gets eastern Poland, part
of Finland and part of Rumania, as well as all three Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and
Estonia).
Hitler* does not believe Britain will fight to guarantee Poland's independence and feels free to
attack Poland, a great coal-field and labor pool. On September 1, 1939, Hitler* begins his
blitzkreig (lightning war) of Poland. This finally gets England and France mad and they
declare war on Germany. The blitzkreig is so successful that after a few days Germany has
taken all of western Poland. The Poles don't even have time to regroup their forces in the east
because on September 17 the Russians invade over the eastern frontier. The Germans and
Russians meet at the Bug River which is now to be the new frontier between these two
countries.
Well! The British and French hardly have time to call up some soldiers. The French mobilize
five million and the British send two divisions to help (these are called the British
Expeditionary Force, or BEF). They don't, however, have any of the big guns in place to
undertake the obligatory massive artillery assault one traditionally begins a battle with.
Consequently there is a period of very uneasy calm. For about nine months nothing much
happens. The Germans call it the sitzkrieg (sitting war) and the British call it the Phony War.
Nobody wants to do much of anything. Mussolini* declares Italy a nonbelligerent, Belgium is
stubbornly neutral and won't let Allied troops set foot on their soil, the French commander
goes into seclusion and won't talk to anybody, and Chamberlain* claims Hitler* has "missed
the bus" by not going on eastward in Poland.
As The Decade Progresses
As the war starts in Europe some countries are what are called Axis satellites. These are
Finland, Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria. They don't exactly belong to any empire at the
moment, but they have all been part of some empire for most of their history and they are sort
of on the Axis side without being belligerent. The war escalates drawing more and more
countries into active warfare. When the whole thing is resolved in 1945, America is definitely
the major "great power" and the Soviet Union is rapidly becoming another. The majority of
countries (finally including the United States) are committed to an improved version of the
League of Nations. It is now the United Nations* and it will provide an international forum
for problems and disputes. The monumental problem in the last part of this decade is how to
pick up the pieces of the industralized world and get Asia and Europe on their feet again.
The legacy of the 40's seems to be "responsibility", the Nurenberg trials, War Crimes, The
Marshall Plan, Decolonization and the world-wide struggle for independence especially in the
East, middle east and Africa. Nobody is really sure that the world (or, at least, humanity) is
likely to survive another conflict. The dominant philosophical system is existentialism* ,
which looks at human choices and acts. Anxiety and guilt are major themes in art, literature,
and the theatre.
Theatrical Events
In the world of theatre, the decade begins as a continuation of the 30s, with plays that are
warnings about the political and social disaster hidden in the Nazis plan. The work of Brecht*
bridges the transition from pre-war to post war as he flees Germany and settles in America for
the duration of the conflict. Another, even more major theatrical figure, has already fled
Jewish persecution in 1933 and in 1938 came to America for the remainder of his life. This is
Max Reinhardt* (1873-1943) who has been Germany's leading director. Now he is a vital
influence in the United States, working in New York theatre and in Hollywood. Anyone who
stays in Germany is forced to go in for Nazis art, glorifying past German history and happy
bourgeois families. The same sort of self-glorification fare also takes over in Russia. Italy
tries to continue its normal theatrical path, but, as it becomes a battleground, this falls by the
way side and very little theatrical happens. France, decimated in the first war and aprehensive
of this one, nurtures the Absurdist* movement and comes out with Existential* theatre during
the occupation. Of the Cartel* (a coherent group of five of the best actor-directors who led the
French theatre between the wars,) Louis Jouvet*, will go into exile during the German
occupation, Charles Dullin* will remain in Paris until 1947 and Gaston Baty* will stay until
1951. Britain tries to keep a stiff-upper lip with comedy and classics helping to sustain
morale. In America all the theatrical refugees are contributing terrific stimulation to the
theatre world. As America gets into the war there are the usual changes in the theatre, actors
get drafted and there is a big demand for "entertainment" (comedy and musicals). When the
war ends theatre picks up all over, reflecting the new aspirations and conditions.
The Major style of the 40s is Theatricalism*, developed in Germany by Reinhardt* and in
France by Vilar*. This style is busy challenging realism* as the most theatrically meaningful
style. Along with epic* (developed in Germany by Piscator* and Brecht*) this style is in
revolt against realism. It insists on using the stage in an openly theatrical way, with no
pretense that what is happening there is some illusion of "real" life. Theatricalism* will be
one of the more popular styles, especially for reviving classics, doing really big spectacle
shows and bringing out interesting interpretations of scripts.
Prominent theatre artists of this decade include those we will encounter as the period goes on
as well as others it is not easy to cover in a particular year. The creative British director,
Tyrone Guthrie* (1900-71) has been best known for his festival work in England, but he is
experimental and directs in many European countries as well. In the next decades he will
work extensively on the North American continent in Canada and the United States, leaving a
lasting impression and legacy. In the United States the influential theatrical figures include
directors and designers as well as the playwrights we will encounter. When the Group
Theatre* disbands in 1940 it's founder and director, Harold Clurman* (1901-80,) moves on to
various directing projects as well as writing extensively on his work and the theatre of his
period. Elia Kazan* (1909- ) started out as an actor with the Group Theatre* playing the kind
of characters he will become famous for directing, the new post-war hero. His first important
directing job will be in 1942. We will hear a good deal about the playwrights as the years go
by, but we might point forward to two Americans, Arthur Miller* (1915- ) and Tennessee
Williams* (1911-83,) who shared a Theatre Guild* National Award in 1937. Since then they
have both been writing and having their plays produced. It is not until the 40s that they both
get their first real successes. Some of the credit for these successful productions needs to be
shared with their directors and set designers. Dominant stage designers in the American
theatre this decade are Jo Mielziner* (1901-76) who is a collaborator in all of Williams'*
productions and the second play by Miller*,) and Boris Aronson (1898-1980), In this decade
the American musical comes of age and reaches unchallenged preeminence. One of the ways
to tell the prestige plays is to follow which one gets the yearly Pulitzer Prize* in drama. This
is a modest $500.00 award for an American play, preferably original, that deals with
American life.
This decade is the heyday of the film industry and its management by omnipotent studios.
Smooth sound synchronization and color processes are being perfected and the theatre
provides both scripts and the full range of theatrical talent to turn theatrical fare into movies.
In this decade working in the film industry is no longer looked down on by theatre folk.
1940
Society - WAR NEWS -
During the period of calm after the fall of Poland, both Britain and Germany make plans to
invade neutral Norway (to control the massive output of iron ore from Sweden). On April 9
the British are just climbing on their ships to leave their base in Scotland, the Firth of Forth,
when the Germans get off the mark first and slip ashore along the Norwegian coast. The next
morning German forces roll into neutral Denmark. The Danes don't resist, the Norwegians do
and the Allies help with naval power. The British relief force is too small and too late to help
on land and Norway falls to the Germans. The British are not happy with how their
government is handling this war and in May (7th) they throw Chamberlain* out and bring
Winston Churchill* (May 10th) in as head of a wartime coalition government.
At this same moment in May, the Germans launch a westward "blitzkrieg," over running the
other neutral countries in their path, the Netherlands (in 4 days) and Belgium (a few more).
On May 13 The Germans launch another prong of their attack through the weakly defended
French Ardennes, cross the Meuse River and their forces speed into France. This cuts the
Allied armies in two. The Allied forces in the north are busy retreating. On May 27 the British
Expeditionary Force in France (as well as large elements of the French army) retreats to the
costal pocket at Dunkirk. In a heroic effort, May 29 through June 3, involving the use of every
private (as well as public) English boat capable of crossing the English Channel (900 in all,)
these forces are partially evacuated (200,000 British and more than 100,000 French, Belgian
and Dutch) while the rest are taken prisoner by the Germans. This event effectively removes
both the French and the British armies as well as all British armaments from the defense of
France. It will take time and the assistance of the United States to rearm Britain.
With the loss of those troops, 370,000 dead or wounded French troops, and ten million
refugees on the roads, France is falling apart. The French government high-tails it to
Bordeaux, two million people flee Paris, heading southward, and the tag-end of the British
Expeditionary Force dashes to Cherbourg where they are boat-lifted out just ahead of General
Rommel*'s arrival. The French commander, Marshal Ptain,* capitulates and France is
defeated and divided. The Germans get the northern part and what comes to be known as the
Vichy Government, under Marshal Ptain*, runs the other part of France. The French who
escape to England will organize in exile under the stimulation of the former under secretary of
state for national defense, Charles de Gaulle*. Operating now as an Axis satellite, Vichy
France (1940-42) also includes the North African French Empire of all of Morocco, Algeria
and Tunisia. However, not all of the French countryside is under direct German control and in
the south and west there are large areas where resistance grows.
July - Russia, operating under a nonaggression pact with Germany, jumps into Eastern Europe
and takes the neutral Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia).
The United States is still, technically, neutral, but President Roosevelt* is getting prepared for
the inevitable and is busy building up the armed forces by the first-ever peacetime Selective
Service (draft).
Hitler* can't get the British to cooperate on a negotiated peace and so he plans to invade
England September 15. First, however, he has to get control of the skies. All of which brings
us to the "Battle of Britain" beginning August 12. The German Luftwaffe (air force) attempts
to subdue England by constant bombing and knock the RAF (Royal Air Force) out of the
English skies at the same time. The battle will continue through December when the Germans
finally give it up as a bad job.
In the East, Japan occupies Indo-China in September and Thailand in December. They join
their war interests with Italy and Germany by signing the Tripartie Pact, recognizing each
other's aspirations and spheres of influence.
Meanwhile Italy, not wanting to be left out of the fun, enters the war on Germany's side and
tries to do a little conquering on its own. By and large the Italian attempts end in dismal
failure (except for Mussolini*'s 1939 seizure of Albania). In October Italy attacks Greece and
her troops are expelled in a week. The Germans decide they will have to help Italy out in
making a dent in the Mediterranean. They will do this next year, and Libya, Greece and
Yugoslavia will fall to the Axis. Hitler* has now approved the plans for Operation
Barbarossa*, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Theatre
In America - Kaufman* and Hart* write The Man Who Came to Dinner*, a farce whose
central character is based on theatre critic Alexander Woollcott and is filled with "insider"
jokes. Theatre education is now an accepted part of American university curriculum. The
musical scene is sparkling with Cole Porter*'s Panama Hattie*, starring Ethel Merman*, and
Rogers and Hart*'s Pal Joey*. The Pulitzer Prize* this year goes to William Saroyan* (190881) for The Time of Your Life*, his fresh and invigorating study of a bunch of characters in a
saloon (perhaps the original model for the later television sitcom Cheers*). This year the old
Mordkin Ballet becomes the Ballet Theater*. It will provide stimulation and talent for the
musical theatre, as well as being one of the foremost international dance companies of the
century.
In France, one of the best actors of our time, Jean-Louis Barrault* (1910- ) becomes a
member of the Comdie Franaise* (the prestigious first theatre of France). He has studied
and worked with the great French theatrical figures of the period between the wars, Charles
Dullin*, Antonin Artaud* and was a student of the mime teacher Etienne Decroux*. He will
dominate the French theatre, especially in international tours, for the next several decades.
Also this year Andr Barsacq* takes over the Atelier* theater. His company will become one
of the most important and innovative between now and his death in 1973.
In Britain at the height of the Blitz only one theatre remains open in London. The premier
theatre group, the Old Vic*, retreats to the provinces. Unlike other European countries, Great
Britain has never subsidized the English theatre. However, now it is important for Britain to
keep up the spirits of the English people and one of the ways they do this is to put up money
to send theatre companies on tour (since their London theatres are bombed-out wrecks). The
government also establishes the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts
(CEMA*) this year to distribute financial aid. (After the war, in 1945, CEMA* will become
the Arts Council* and municipalities will begin to allot a percentage of their revenues to
support the arts). These subsidies give the English theatre a real boost and lead to a boom in
regional theatre. In 1940s the British parliament will approve the establishment of a National
Theatre, along the lines of the Comdie Franaise*, from the Old Vic company. It will be
housed in a new theatre building, but the implementation of this is delayed until the early
1960's. Meanwhile the intended National Theatre company continues as the Old Vic*
company, which currently includes Laurence Olivier*, Tyrone Guthrie*, Ralph Richardson*,
and John Burrell*. The Old Vic* revives the national tradition of outstanding classical
productions and rapidly becomes the most admired theatre company in the world.
1941
Society - WAR NEWS Some European nations actually manage to remain neutral, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey
and Switzerland. Through these countries refugees, spies and clandestine commerce will flow
freely. The classic movie, Casablanca*, will immortalize this strange neutrality.
In May the German-Italian campaigns overrun the Balkans. German occupation of
Yugoslavia and Greece begins.
On June 22, breaking the pact with Stalin* (who was happily still shipping oil and grain to
Hitler*,) 150 divisions, three million German troops, attack Russia as Operation Barbarossa*
gets underway. They march through the Ukraine to the Caucasus and through White Russia
and the Baltic Republics to the gates of Moscow and Leningrad. [Unfortunately for the Soviet
Union, Stalin* spent the 1930s purging the Red Army's high command of anybody with any
gumption or intelligence. This makes running a war rather a chancy business.] Hitler* is
pursuing what he regards as his true mission in life, his eastward war of conquest and
extermination. His big aim is to have a German population of 250 million running the whole
stretch of European real estate from the Atlantic to the Urals (those Russian mountains).
Meanwhile, in the East, Japan is marching through Thailand. In December the Russians learn
that they are in no immanent danger from Japanese attack (the Japanese have other plans for
the immediate future). and move their eastern troops to their western front to counterattack the
Germans.
On December 7th Japan attacks America by bombing the Pacific Fleet at anchor in Hawaii's
Pearl Harbor (not to mention attacking the Philippines, Hong Kong and Malaya, the major
world source of rubber). The U.S. declares war on the Axis Powers, Italy, Germany and
Japan. With France defeated, the allies are now "the big three," Great Britain, America and
Russia.
Theatre
Lillian Hellman* (1905-84) continues to fulfill her earlier promise as a playwright of stature
in her prophetic play about the likelihood of the war coming to America, Watch On The
Rhine*. On the musical stage there is the exciting Lady In the Dark* with the libretto by
Maxwell Anderson*, lyrics by Ira Gershwin*, music by Kurt Weill* and starring Gertrude
Lawrence* (1898-1952). The plot includes psychoanalysis and dreams. All this spectacular
talent helps the musical rise to new heights of sophistication. The Pulitzer Prize* this year
goes to Robert E. Sherwood* for his drama, There Shall Be No Night* One of the most
famous movies of all times comes out this year, Citizen Kane*, created by Orson Welles*. It's
a showcase for a lot of technical innovations which will be copied and adapted for a long
time.
In England, Noel Coward* (1899-1973) is busy doing one of his most popular plays, Blithe
Spirit*, to keep up his besieged countrymen's spirits.
Epic Theatre*
This theatrical form began with a German left-wing experimenter, Erwin Piscator* (18931966) doing what, in the 1920s, was called "agitprop" (propaganda theatre designed to agitate
the masses into political action). Staging techniques such as projections (of slides,
photographs, cartoons and explanatory captions,) musical numbers, loudspeakers, were
trademarks of this type theatre since it was designed to stir the audience to action. Piscator*
wanted to come up with a theatre that was technological, political and epic (here the term
"epic" is the opposite of "narrative" and means a bunch of loosely constructed scenes put
together sort of like a musical revue, very much like the cabaret shows of the time). One of
the main things Epic Theatre* is supposed to do is teach lessons gained from history so that
audiences will learn the reasons why the current world is doing what it's doing. Brecht*
worked with Piscator* and developed his own, more complex ideas about Epic Theatre*.
Brecht* used ideas from the Chinese opera, Japanese Noh drama, chronicle history plays,
English music-hall routines, and modern films in putting together all aspects of his Epic
Theatre*. He will become the most influential theatrical figure of his time, especially through
his theoretical writings about Epic which cover 40 years. Essentially Brecht* wants to use the
stage as a platform where he can represent the historical process concerning those political
and social issues he's interested in. He wants to debate these issues in an episodic and
narrative way, paying no attention to the Aristotelian* notions about plot, time and place.
Brecht* gets his episodic effects from a series of loosely-knit scenes which are complete in
themselves and are juxtaposed (put side by side) so they contrast with each other. He has the
music, scenery, acting, lighting and scenery changes, each stand out on their own and make
their own statement (about the issues being debated) by their juxtaposition with the other
elements. [Much of this is very similar to what Meyerhold* is doing in Russia where his work
is known as "grotesque*.] The emphasis in Brecht *'s plays is on the dialectical*
contradictions, the chain of conflicts in human affairs and how they can be synthesized or
reconciled (his favorite subjects are economic injustice, human exploitation, class conflicts
and power struggles). Consequently, Brecht* develops his actors in a specific epic acting*
style where the actor is narrating the actions of the character (like being an eyewitness to a
traffic accident). This means that the actor presents the audience with two characters, the actor
and the character they play. Brecht* is very firm about not letting the audience identify with
the characters or letting the actors do it either. Each of Brecht*'s characters is a distinct social
type (this sort of thing goes back to the morality plays of the middle ages) as well as an
individual. One of the ways of doing this kind of acting is to create what Brecht* terms the
gest* (or gestic). In this idea, the actor's words follow the gest* (which is the object being
dealt with, followed by the character's attitude toward the object). The whole point of this in
to prevent the audience from empathizing with the character. This alienation*
(Verfremdungseffekt) effect is so that the audience will see things from a new angle, in which
they will be able to think and learn, rather than just be entertained. The scenery, too, is
designed to alienate the audience and prevent them from being sucked into identifying with
the place. Bits and pieces of scenery are used as needed and projections on a white screen on
stage make their own statements. The costumes and properties are also designed to make
statements of their own. Only what is needed shows up on the stage, as opposed to the
traditional, realistic," show it the way it would be if you were there," style.
The musicians who play the songs are also put on the stage where the audience can see them,
instead of being hidden in an orchestra pit. The songs, too, are designed to interrupt the flow
of scenes and comment on them instead of rising out of the action (as they do in musical
comedy). The same is true of the relation of the music to the lyrics, they fight each other
instead of fitting nicely together. The Epic* style of production is even more influential on
theatre production than Brecht*'s writings or his plays, but it's necessary to understand his
work in all its aspects to make sense of the production stuff.
Bertolt Brecht*'s Mother Courage and Her Children* is produced this year in Zurich
(Switzerland). Since Switzerland is neutral, it is full of refugees, spies and people making
money. It is an ideal place for this play with its materialistic view of the stupidity of war as
seen in the period of the Thirty Years' War (the early seventeenth century). Like many of
Brecht*'s plays, this one is based on somebody else's work (in this case Hans Jakob
Grimmelshauen's 1699 novel, Simplicissimus*. It has music by Paul Dessau*. The plot
follows the title character, Anna Fierling, a canteen wagon owner (she's called "Mother
Courage" because she's always braving enemy fire to save her goods). She's traipsing around
central Europe with her three children (all by different fathers,) the brave Eilif, honest Swiss
Cheese and the sensitive, mute girl, Kathrin. Each of the children embody characteristics
valued in wartime but deadly to those who have them. Eilif gets conscripted by the Swedish
Protestant Army where he is decorated for his skill at plundering but during peacetime he's
killed for doing the same thing. Honest Swiss cheese is made into an army paymaster where
he is killed trying to protect his regiment's funds from the enemy. Kathrin survives the longest
but dies in a heroic effort to save the children of a town from a Catholic attack. Mother
Courage is a battlefield herself, trying to save her children but unwilling to loose money doing
it, cursing war and making her living from it. By the end of the play, never learning from
experience, she pursues her profits dragging her wagon alone. The dates of Brecht*'s plays are
very fuzzy since he is always tinkering with them and they are not necessarily produced when
they are written. His major works are:
Ball* 1918 Drums in the Night* 1922 In the Jungle of the Cities* 1923 The Threepenny
Opera* 1928 A Man's A Man* 1928 The Private Life of the Master Race Galileo* 1938-1939
1935-1938 Mother Courage* 1938-1939 The Good Woman of Setzuan* 1938-1940 The
Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui* Herr Puntila* 1940-1940 1941 The Caucasian Chalk Circle*
1943-1945
1942
Society - WAR NEWS The term United Nations* is used officially on January 1, when 26 nations fighting the Axis*
join in the declaration by the United Nations* pledging to continue the joint war effort and not
make peace separately.
The German plan in the East is changing. The idea now is to ease up on Moscow and drive
south to those lovely oil fields in the Caucasus. This will require seizing Stalingrad at the
northern edge of this route. Meanwhile the African campaign is to sweep across Egypt and
capture the Suez Canal and the oil fields of the Middle East. Sounds good, but achieving it is
something else. There is the problem of manpower, despite pressing allies for help.
Hungarians, Finns, Rumanians, Slovakians and Italians are formed up in small divisions but
they aren't very good and there isn't enough military equipment, like tanks and artillery, for
instance.
Japan attacks Indonesia in January and Burma in March and by April they control the oil-rich
Dutch colonies. By now they have taken New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Wake, Guam and
the Gilberts. They are threatening the Indian frontier. In most places the local populations are
pleased to see an Asian force defeat the European colonial lords, so resistance isn't all it could
be.
In May the Japanese have a setback in the first-ever sea battle between air-craft carriers. The
location is in the Coral Sea and both sides sustain losses.
In June the Japanese attempt to take Midway Island and the tide turns as U.S. forces turn back
the Japanese in the Battle of Midway. This marks the end of Japanese offensive moves. From
here on out they will be on the defensive. Bitter island-hopping battles now begin (the battle
for Guadalcanal begins in August and drags on through January 1943,) as the Pacific Allied
forces begin slowly pushing the Japanese back toward their home islands.
General Dwight David Eisenhower* (1890-1969) becomes chief of army operations in
Washington and then U.S. commander of the European theater of operations.
September '42 - February '43 - After a number of winter counter thrusts. The Russians stop
the German advance at Stalingrad. They begin to drive the Germans back at the cost of great
casualties and with the help of British and American Lend-Lease. November 19 the Soviet
pincer movement starts to trap the Germans attacking Stalingrad. In four days the trap is
closed and a quarter of a million German troops are trapped, with all their armor and artillery.
The army won't surrender until February '43 when only 90,000 Germans remain alive. Also in
November, Operation Torch gets under way with huge landings of Anglo-American forces in
Algeria and Morocco (despite nominal objections from Vichy France). The North-African
campaign will drag on into May '43.
This year marks the turning point of the war with Germany as the Allies invade North Africa
and prevent any seizure of the Suez Canal or oil fields.
Theatre
In the United States: Elia Kazan* directs Thornton Wilder*'s The Skin of Our Teeth*. This
comedy looks at mankind's hairbreadth escapes from disaster throughout the ages. The plot
device that Wilder uses to span such an enormous time frame consists in following the
Antrbus' household (husband, wife, three children, maid and dog) through their precarious
history in Excelsior, New Jersey from the age of the dinosaurs to the present. It wins a
Pulitzer Prize* next year and becomes a perennial favorite. No play is selected from last year's
season for this year's prize. This year sees the musical By Jupiter*, the last collaboration of
Richard Rogers * (1902-79) and Lorenz Hart* (1895-1943). Hart dies this year and Rogers
moves on to a new and spectacularly fruitful association with Oscar Hammerstein II* (18951960).
In France a well-known novelist, Henry de Montherlant* (1896-1972,) turns playwright and
has his first produced work done at the Comdie Franaise* by Jean-Louis Barrault*. Its
success leads him to continue as a playwright.
This year Bertolt Brecht* comes to the United States with friends and family to sit out the
war. He will stay into late 1947.
In Athens, Greece Karlous Koun founds the Art Theatre* to produce avant-garde plays. They
will do plays of Williams, Beckett and Gent for the next seventeen years.
1943
Society - WAR NEWS General Dwight David Eisenhower* is now supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary
Force. Allied forces invade Sicily in July, pushing quickly across to make the jump to the
Italian mainland (at Salerno). On the 21st of July the Italians depose Mussolini* and try to
pull Italy out of the war. The negotiations are botched and the Germans rush in to rescue
Mussolini* and take over Italian strong points. In the Pacific, Guadalcanal is finally taken by
the Americans in January, and the "Big Three" get together for a strategy meeting this month
in Casablanca (yes, the same location as the movie). Stalin*, Churchill* and Roosevelt* have
their first strategy meeting and all agree that unconditional surrender of each of the Axis
powers is the primary objective. The Teheran Conference* (held at, where else?, at Teheran,
Iran) brings together the Allied powers again, Roosevelt*, Churchill* and Stalin*, to agree on
the Allied plans for the war against Germany, the "second front," and postwar cooperation in
the United Nations*.
Theatre
In the United States, New York City turns the Mecca Temple on 55th Street into the City
Center* where opera, musical comedy, ballet, and drama are played for limited engagements
at moderate prices. The theatrical event of the year is the opening of the musical Oklahoma!*.
Based on Lynn Riggs*' play, Green Grow the Lilacs*, Oscar Hammerstein II* does the book
and lyrics and Richard Rogers*, the music in the first collaboration of this new team. The
innovative choreography of Agnes DeMille* sets new dance standards for the musical
comedy and this landmark production will come to be regarded as the real beginning of the
world-famous modern American musical. Another landmark event is the production of
Shakespeare*'s Othello* directed by Margaret Webster* (1905-72). She plays Emilia to Paul
Robeson*'s Othello. This play will break all records for a play by Shakespeare* on Broadway.
In France: Anouilh*'s Antigone* is produced by Barsacq*. The modern adaptation of the
Greek play presents a woman's defiance of tyranny, especially meaningful to a France
suffering under the German occupation. It's written to foment resistance without letting the
Germans know that's what it's doing. Philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre* (19051980) brings his existentialist ideas to the stage with The Flies*, another very modern
adaptation of a Greek play. This one deals with the Orestes story (from Aeschylus*' trilogy on
this hero). You may notice that the French are very big on taking old Greek plays and redoing
them for contemporary purposes. They are quite good at this.
Jean-Louis Barrault* directs a highly theatrical production of Paul Claudel *'s The Satin
Slipper* at the Comdie Franaise*. This production makes his reputation as a theatricalist*
director and a major force in the French theatre. It also rescues Claudel*'s work from the shelf
where it had been considered unproducable. The Theatre of the Absurd* will take its name
from the essay of Albert Camus* that comes out this year. In "The Myth of Sisyphus"*
Camus* claims that the human condition is absurd because of the gap between a person's
hopes and the irrational universe in which he lives.
1944
Society - WAR NEWS -
General Eisenhower* is made general of the army (a five-star general) and gets busy
coordinating and directing the Allied invasion of Europe. In January the Allies finally get
started on additional Italian landings, this time at Anzio. The Italian campaign will drag on.
As the Soviets advance there is renewed urgency in the Nazis' policy of annihilation of the
Jews. Mass-extermination methods begin to be widely used. In June the Allied forces finally
make it across the English Channel on what is designated D-day*. Operation Overlord is the
largest amphibious landing (and landing force, naval support, etc). ever attempted. After a
slow start on the beach areas the Allied forces are off and running across France. Also in June
massive bombing raids on Japan begin. In October the big Pacific battle is for Leyte Gulf.
Meanwhile, it's election time in the United States and Roosevelt* has little difficulty in
running for an unprecedented fourth term. After all, nobody wants to change commander-inchiefs in the middle of a war.
Theatre
In the United States the memorable Theatre Guild* production of Othello* continues, starring
the magnificent Afro-American actor Paul Robeson* (1898-1976). After his early (1924)
performance in Eugene O'Neill*'s All God's Chillun Got Wings* his exceptional singing
talent was recognized and he spent a lot of time on the concert stage. After the war he'll have
trouble with the "commie" hunters because of his liberal views. He will, however, be known
as the greatest Afro-American actor of his time. Lillian Hellman*'s latest play, The Searching
Wind*, goes on this year. There are years when the selection committee doesn't think there is
a play good enough for the Pulitzer Prize*. This year is one of them. Modern dance is
progressing very nicely as can be seen this year when Martha Graham* (1894-) produces her
Appalachian Spring*. This year Leonard Bernstein* (1918-90) comes out with his musical,
On the Town* . One of the important things about this musical is the choreography of Jerome
Robbins*. Dance is being used, more and more, to tell the story, reveal the characters and
illuminate the ideas.
Existentialism*
In France, Jean-Paul Sartre* (1905-1980) brings out what will become his best-known, and
most often produced existentialist* play, No Exit*. Albert Camus* (1913-1960) also comes
out with his first existentialist* play, Cross-Purposes*.
For these existentialists* the only remedy to the gap between one's hopes and the irrational
universe into which one is born is to search for a set of standards (without any objective basis)
that will allow him or her to bring order out of chaos. The object of this search is to permit
each person to become an authentic, responsible being capable of genuine engagement with
others. This is necessary because, (they argue,) unthinking conformity and the refusal to make
choices turns people into robots and makes such things as the Nazis atrocities possible. These
two existentialists* argue about such notions as "engagement" but between them they lay the
philosophical groundwork for the theatrical Absurdist* movement that will blossom in the
next decade.
Existentialism* really rings a bell with all kinds of people. After the war, people will troop to
Paris in the thousands to study under Sartre* and to argue existential ideas with each other. It
helps them cope with the unbelievable events and conditions of the war and its aftermath.
Philosophically there are other branches of existentialism (which has been a going concern
since before the first war. Christian Existentialism is best represented by Gabriel Marcel*
(who also writes plays, but these are not as well known out side France, although his
philosophical writings are better known among professionals). There are also some Germans
who are sort-of into this philosophical area, Karl Jaspers* (1883- ) and Martin Buber* (1878, Jewish).
1945
Society - WAR NEWS In February and March the Allied forces in the Pacific are spending a lot of blood taking Iwo
Jima. They go on to take Okinawa in April. The Yalta Conference* (held, of course, at Yalta
in the Russian Crimea) brings Roosevelt*, Churchill* and Stalin* together again to hammer
out more detailed nitty-gritty decisions about the end of the conflict with Germany. This is a
very, very, secret conference and there will be long and heated arguments over what is agreed
upon here. Basically the "Big Three" arrange a four-power occupation of Germany (they
include France in this deal). This occupation plan allows Russian armies to sweep over much
of Germany even though the British and American forces could do the job more easily. This
will lead to a very peculiar division of Berlin. They also plan the conference to found the
United Nations*. The criteria for a country or state to be invited to participate in the founding
is that they must have declared war on the Axis. This brings countries like Argentina and
Turkey into the declaration of war business. The Soviet Union agrees to enter the war against
Japan after Germany is defeated, in return for occupation rights in some Asian real estate she
covets. The Big Three also hammer out a guarantee of representative government for Poland
(since Russia invaded Poland before going to war with Germany, this seems a necessary
safeguard for the poor Poles). April 12th - Roosevelt* dies and the Vice President, Harry
Truman* (1884-1972,) (president 1945-53) becomes the 33rd president of the United States.
He takes over the closing days of the war. April 25th the Red Army and the Americans meet
on the Elbe River in Germany. In April there is the official and formal founding of the United
Nations*. The U.N. Charter is drawn up in a conference at San Francisco. It is to provide a
forum of international opinion and consensus to solve disputes and address problems. The
object is to prevent a future would war three. Trygve Lie* is the first Secretary General over
the 50 founding member countries.
May 8th - Germany is finally defeated and accepts unconditional surrender.
In July there is the Potsdam Conference* (held at Potsdam, Germany) to clarify and
implement those agreements the "Big Three" just made at Yalta. Now the participants are
Truman*, Churchill* and Stalin*, but Attlee* takes over as Prime Minister when Churchill*
loses the election. The occupation zones in Germany, plans for reordering the German
economy and institutions and establishing a Council of Foreign Ministers to handle the peace
settlements are the main agenda. They also issue an ultimatum to Japan, which falls on deaf
ears. The problems dividing Russia from the western powers begins to show up.
The war in the Pacific goes on. Despite continuing defeat and loss of territory, the Japanese
intend to fight to the last drop of blood. This does not look good in terms of the projected
million casualties it may take to finish the war in the conventional way. President Truman*
makes the decision to use the weapon developed over the past four years, the Atomic bomb,
known as the A-bomb. August 6th - The United States drops the first A-Bomb on Hiroshima.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem to impress the Japanese sufficiently and so it is followed on
August 9th by another A-bomb drop on Nagasaki. Hirohito, the Divine Emperor, finally gets
up the courage to instruct his military to surrender. Reluctantly, they do on the 14th of
August. With the war over, the American government cancels "Lend Lease" in August.
Unfortunately this will lead to impending economic disaster for Europe.
September 2nd - Japan finally signs their unconditional surrender.
By now everyone has learned of the death camps, medical experiments, and other atrocities
perpetrated by the Germans and Japanese. As a result, an International Tribunal begins the
War Crime Trials in Nurenberg, Nov. 20, 1945.
General Eisenhower* gets to come home from Europe and is made army chief of staff (194548).
Theatre
This year Brecht* comes out with The Caucasian Chalk Circle* (1943-1945). This play takes
place in and around a war-torn Caucasian village (in a Soviet Georgia part of the Caucus
mountain range in 1945). The members of two villages, helped by an expert from the state
reconstruction commission in the capital, are having a dispute over ownership of the valley
and what to do with it. The chalk circle of the title refers to a test (drawn from a 14th century
Chinese play) like King Solomon's sword test in the Bible. The test is to determine ownership,
as in who is the mother. It also serves as a model of practical socialist wisdom on how to
settle disputes of ownership. The child should go to the mother who takes best care of it and
the valley should go to the people can make it the most useful. There are two stories, one
inside the other. The first concerns the dispute between the villages over the valley. The
second is sandwiched inside and is introduced by a singer-narrator who tells the tale of the
chalk circle test of the serving girl, Grusha, and the Governor's wife, Natella, over a child,
Michael, before Judge Azdak. Now we get to find out why the trial comes about. It seems that
when a revolt takes place the child is left in the care of Grusha so that the Governor and his
wife can escape. All Grusha's efforts to feed and shelter the child put her own life at risk and
she will be branded a thief for rescuing the child unless she can produce a "father" for him.
The soldiers eventually capture her and she is brought before the judge.
The play takes a brief excursion into the background of the judge who started out as a village
scribe but is turned into a judge by a bunch of drunken soldiers who hung the previous judge.
He is called Azdak and he is corrupt, licentious and couldn't care less about the law that is
designed for the rich. He's also something of a Robin Hood character who brings generosity
and wisdom to the task of dealing with human complaints. Now we get back to the trial in
which the child is placed inside a circle drawn with chalk and the two women are told to pull
him out. His biological mother pulls but Grusha refuses to because she doesn't want to tear the
child apart. Of course she gets the child. Now we go back to the first plot and the narrator
points out the lesson of the test to the villagers (from the first scene). The play is a good
example of the dialectical* process of taking opposing ideas and synthesizing or reconciling
them. This shows up here in how Grusha's concern for her own survival and her concern for
the child (which start out being almost mutually exclusive concerns) become synthesized into
one concern and the contradictions are resolved.
AFTER THE WAR
The world at the end of World War Two is a very different one from that which preceded it.
Much of the world has been devastated by the fighting. This fact is complicated by the
growing antagonism between the USSR and America. The total financial cost is estimated at
one trillion 154 billion 1945 dollars. In addition, property damage (excluding China where
civil war is still going on) is estimated at close to two hundred and thirty-one trillion dollars.
The lives of everyone involved have been changed. World wide as many as 92 million people
had been mobilized. After the war many of those who remain alive among the 92 million are
demobilized and return home or go elsewhere and look for work. In addition to this somewhat
orderly mass movement of people there are three other kinds of population movement in
Europe at the end of the war:
There are the people who had been forced into Nazi Germany to work are now being resettled
in their own countries. Moving in the opposite direction there are the Germans who are now
being driven back into their own country from countries they overran and from territories they
now have to give up as part of the final surrender. Then there are Russians and Poles who are
settling into territories the Soviets annexed or occupied at the end of the war, from which the
original inhabitants either fled or were expelled.
All this leaves an incalculable number of people on the move. This endless swarm of refugees
will complicate political settlements of territory and will occupy the attention of the United
Nations in general and Eleanor Roosevelt* in particular for a considerable time to come.
Not only are people on the move, there are an awful lot of people who died. Loss of life has
been without precedent and, in many cases, unknowable, although it must have exceeded 50
million. The Axis (Germany, Japan, and their allies) military dead approach six million.
Allied military dead appear to be around one million (again excluding China where statistics
aren't available, although General Ho Ying-chin reports 1,250,000 dead). There are a lot more
Civilian deaths than military. Russia claims 20 million dead, a large part of which are
civilians. Deaths in the Nazi concentration camps (Auchwitz, Dachau, etc). run by Germany
exceed ten million and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company claim that somewhere around
1,500,000 civilians were killed in air raids in the European theatre of war. All this doesn't
begin to count the millions who died in the Eastern countries where not many records are
kept.
Russia picks up an awful lot of territory by the end of the war and communist regimes in
Eastern Europe are all supported by Soviet troops, so what comes to be called the "Eastern
Bloc" is forming under the military might of the Soviet Union.
After being a battlefield, Europe is a physical and economic wasteland. Industrial and
agricultural capacity is less than half what it had been before the war. Railroads are
particularly hard hit. The outlook will remain bleak well into 1949.
Asia is also devastated. Having witnessed the Japanese defeating the white, European colonial
master, local populations dare to aspire to nationalism and independence. This rising
nationalism, as well as internal political conflict, will lead to growing civil warfare (like that
which has been going on for years in China between the Communists under Mao Tse-Tung*
(or Zedong) and the nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek*). It will also lead to armed attempts
to throw off colonial powers. The most devastating of the colonial wars will be fought in Indo
China against the French.
Theatre
Germany - is divided, but her theatres continue, each under its own regime. Both Germanys
will have state supported theatres, but the West will also have many privately owned ones as
well.
In Oslo, Norway, a bunch of young actors start the Studio Theatre*. Their production of
Thornton Wilder*'s Our Town* tours all over the country to play before audiences who have
never seen a theatre piece. This company specializes in Stanislavski*'s acting method and in
doing modern plays.
Britain - Following the war the commercial theatre in England is innocuous at best. Terence
Rattigan* (1911-1977,) who had been writing plays since the thirties, is one of the current
playwrights, busy churning out drawing room comedies. His best work will come later. The
more exciting and innovative work comes from other places. This year the Council for the
Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) becomes the Arts Council and municipalities
begin to allot a percentage of their revenues to support the arts. One of the groups that will get
this support is headed by director Joan Littlewood*, who reorganizes the pre-war amateur
group, Theatre Union*, known for unconventional productions and experimental plays. The
new group is the Theatre Workshop* with Littlewood* as the artistic director. It will tour and
finally, in 1953, settle in the Theatre Royal* in Stratford, London. Littlewood's system and
her production style are distinctively unique, owing something to both Stanislavski and
Brecht.
Another stimulating movement beginning this year is the Young Vic*, founded as part of the
Old Vic* Drama School. The school is under the direction of Michael Saint-Denis* who
operates on the principles of the great French director, Copeau*. Both schools will be
abandoned by 1952 under financial problems but by then they will have brought new and
stimulating ideas into the British theatre. The Old Vic* (tapped to be the future National
Theatre) is currently under the direction of Laurence Olivier*, Ralph Richardson* and John
Burrell*. It will spend the next decade being the best of all the English companies and the
best-known company in the English-speaking world.
In the United States - the Pulitzer Prize* this year goes to a delightful comedy about an
invisible six-foot tall rabbit that will become a favorite revival in communities all over the
country, Mary Chase*'s Harvey*. A new playwright appears on the commercial scene this
year when Tennessee Williams* has his first Broadway success with Glass Menagerie*. The
designer, Jo Mielziner* (1901-76,) has been one of the leading stage designers since he
designed for the Lunt's production of Molnar's The Guardsman* in 1924. His work will
dominate the American theatre for the next two decades, as will that of Williams. The play is
directed by Eddie Dowling* and Margo Jones* (1913-55). Margo Jones* has been bringing
Williams* along as a playwright ever since she directed one of his early plays at the
Cleveland Playhouse* in 1943. This year she starts an experimental theatre in Dallas, Texas to
encourage the work of new playwrights and do experimental productions of classics. The
latest musical comedy by Oscar Hammerstein II* and Richard Rogers* comes out this year. It
is Carousel*, based on the Balkan play Liliom* by Moln r. The plot includes the death of the
hero and just goes to show that musical comedies are loosing the purely comic touch. Serious
seems to be OK, too.
In Japan the view is that American theatre should be seriously entertained. the Haiyuza
(Actor's Theatre*) of Japan is founded with a main company and several smaller studios (to
get experimentation off the ground quickly). They will introduce many western authors to
Japanese authors. American companies will tour Japan extensively with such playwrights as
Williams* and, of course, with all the major musicals.
Almost all the theatre in France is to be found in Paris. After the war this begins to change.
One of the most fruitful events will be the dramatic festivals funded by both national and local
authorities.
In Brazil an Afro-Brazilian named Abdias do Nascimento* forms the Black Experimental
Theatre*. The object is to find and present productions that reflect the black experience. It is
also designed, as are most experimental theatres, to encourage new playwrights and find a
way of expressing and passing on this segment of society's culture. Considering that half the
population of Brazil is black, it seems like a worthwhile venture.
1946
Society FRANCE - The wartime Cabinet headed by the Free French leader Charles DeGaulle breaks
up, DeGaulle "withdraws", and a succession of weak governments follow. In regard to the
French Colonial Empire, some more forward-looking politicians advocate the establishment
of a "French Union", similar but different from the British Commonwealth. But the majority
of the government seem to have learned nothing about the changing world and insist on
pursuing the same old colonial attitudes and behavior. French problems begin immediately.
The French weren't there among the Allied forces driving the Japanese out of Indochina, so,
it's not surprising that after the Chinese and British forces leave and the French try to
reimpose their rule by force, open warfare follows with the local population. It won't end until
the crushing defeat of the French forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. However, Asia is only a
minor problem compared with the great bulk of the French empire which was in Africa. Here,
too, the old-fashioned imperialist administrators use force to try to put down independence
movements. The struggles in Africa will totally absorb the French in the next decade and
bring it to the brink of civil war.
UNITED STATES - The Republicans gain control of Congress and frustrate Truman's
domestic agenda. The housing situation is critical, what with all these discharged veterans
starting families and not finding any houses to move into. This year a clever construction man
(named Levit) who spent the war making military things in the Seabees (the Navy
construction arm) starts building affordable housing in large quantities in a converted potato
field in New York. It will be called Levittown and become the model for endless tract housing
in innumerable suburbs all over the country. This will gradually change American society
(which has been essentially small-town,) into a homogeneous suburbia defined by its
television counterparts, its narrow age range and its standing as parents of the "baby boom."
ASIA MINOR - The Turks are having a very hard time living up to their views on peace since
they are being seriously threatened by the Soviets (the so-called "Battle of Azerbaijan"
includes a large concentration of Russian troops in the Balkan area, demands for military
bases on the Straits (the Bosporus) and canceling the Russian-Turkish Friendship Treaty). The
whole affair will drive Turkey right into NATO and a solid relation with the United States
(who is the only one left that can challenge the Soviets). It also usher in the "Cold War."
ARGENTINA - Juan Domingo Pern* is elected president and his wife, Mara Eva Duarte de
Pern* makes government leadership a partnership affair. She establishes offices in the
Ministry of Labor and forms the Eva de Peron Welfare Foundation which enables her to take
over the field of social welfare. She will bring Argentine women into public life.
Theatre
The French Ministry of Arts and Letters begins subsidizing new productions and theatrical
companies and institutes an annual competition for best production and direction and
encouraging decentralization. They also reorganize the state theatres, combining the
management of the Odon* and the Comdie Franaise* and of the two opera houses. New
regulations reducing outside commitments to film and other productions are imposed. This
drives many of the leading members of the Comdie Franaise* to quit. Jean-Louis Barrault*
resigns from the Comdie Franaise* and, with his wife, the actress Madeleine Renaud*, form
a joint company. They embark on a very successful production career that will include
everything from Greek plays to the latest Absurdist* scripts. The playwright, Armand
Salacrou*, comes out with Nights of Wrath*. In Austria, the Salzburg Festival* is reopened.
In Great Britain, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon is reorganized
under Barry Jackson* ('46-'48) into the Stratford Festival Company* . It is enlivened by new
young directors: Peter Brook*, Paul Scofield*, Anthony Quayle* (director of company '48'56) and Glen Bryan Shaw* (from '53). Novel innovations become the norm with outstanding
actors appearing often: Gielgud*, Olivier*, Redgrave*, Peggy Ashcroft*. Between 1946
(beginning this year with Christopher Fry*'s A Phoenix Too Frequent *) and 1955 (when the
"kitchen sink" style of drama begins to be popular,) the poetic drama of Christopher Fry* and
T.S. Eliot will create a brief stir in both England and America. Fry* will be widely produced
in America.
In America one of the greatest playwrights of the century comes out of his twelve year
retirement and permits one of his new plays to be produced. Eugene O'Neill*'s The Iceman
Cometh* enjoys a long Broadway run despite its extraordinary length. It will go on to
international productions, too. Lillian Hellman* comes out with her satiric comedy, Another
Part of the Forest* . One of the most enduring comedies comes out this year, Garson Kanin*'s
Born Yesterday*. The education of the stock "dumb blond" character of "Billie Dawn"
(played magnificently by Judy Holiday*,) takes place in the midst of the political corruption
and greed of Washington. This play will be revived many times and made into a very popular
movie. The Pulitzer Prize* this year goes to a play about the political process, State of the
Union* by Russel Crouse* and Howard Lindsay*. The New York City Ballet* is founded by
the internationally renowned choreographer George Balanchine* (1904-83 founder of the
School of American Ballet) and Lincoln Kirstein* (1907- dance and theater executive and
writer). The best musical is Irving Berlin*'s Annie Get Your Gun* with a dandy title role for
Ethel Merman*. This year Eva Le Gallienne* (1899- , who has been running The Civic
Repertory* since 1926), Margaret Webster* (1905-72, an actress with an outstanding
reputation for directing Shakespeare*, see 1943) and Cheryl Crawford* (1902- actress,
director and Theatre Guild* and Group Theatre* founder) get together and form the American
Repertory Theatre*. It will be active for two years.
In Europe the festival at Salzburg (Austria) reopens this year. It will resume its world famous
position.
1947
Society The Truman Doctrine* is hammered out this year as a tough stand on the part of the west to
prevent communist domination of Turkey and Greece. One of the most significant events this
year is the beginning of the Marshall Plan* which is designed to ensure the economic
recovery of Western Europe. (There seems no point in repeating the mistakes of the last war
and letting Europe fester in economic ruin). The Republican congress finds it very difficult to
come up with the money for this, but General Marshall's* reputation sways them into coming
on board Truman's plan. On August 15 India and Pakistan become independent countries and
members of the Commonwealth, as Great Britain finally lets go of her Indian Empire. In
February Britain announces that it will hand over the Palestine problem to the U.N.. In
November the U.N. proposes a partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with the city
of Jerusalem under international control. The Zionists (the Jewish side) accept and the Arabs
reject it and the Arabs prepare for war. In December the British declare they will pull out in
May. Things here will go from bad to worse.
ARGENTINA - Mara Eva Duarte de Pern* manages to get woman suffrage this year.
Enrollment of veterans in American colleges reaches its peak this year (they attend on the GI
Bill of 1944 which provides all veterans with financial aid for going to college). There are
over 1 million veterans among some 2.5 million students attending college. This changes
colleges and universities beyond recognition. Most of these GIs are older than the typical
college student, have no interest in the "typical" social agenda of fraternities, football and
parties and are seriously pursuing their studies in order to achieve a better career. The GIs also
go to school with new families. Temporary college housing (mostly surplus army Quonset
huts) for married students goes up all over.
Theatre
International theatre understanding is promoted by the United Nations. This year UNESCO
(United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) founds the International
Theatre Institute* (ITI*). The ITI* will embark on a number of useful and productive
activities including encouraging the development of theatre throughout the world in places
where there haven't been hardly any.
A new producing unit in the United States is the Actors Studio*. It is founded by Robert
Lewis, Elia Kazan and Cheryl Crawford* to give selected actors a place to refine and develop
the Stanislavski* system. Next year Robert Lewis will resign and Lee Strasberg* will become
the leading force. Under his influence of actors are taught to hunt for the "inner truth" as the
basis for good acting.
ANTA* (American National Theatre Academy, which was founded to stimulate theatre
outside New York) never has much in the way of funds, but becomes the main American
center for collecting and exchanging information about theatre. It is active in encouraging the
decentralization of American theatre. This year more of that decentralization begins when
another theatre (besides Margo Jones*'s Arena* in Dallas now Theatre 47*) opens in Texas.
Nina Vance* converts a dance studio into the Alley Theatre* in Houston. Kurt Weill* comes
out with some of his more serious musical work in Street Scene *. Out in the great north west,
at Ashland, Oregon, the oldest Shakespeare festival in America (it started up in 1935) reopens
with a new stage and professional actors.
A new playwright appears on the Broadway scene this year as Arthur Miller* , (1915- ) has
his first real success with All My Sons*. The theme of responsibility for one's actions will
become the major preoccupation of Miller. This time the plot revolves around a father who
does a little wartime profiteering and how this affects his children. No play is selected for the
Pulitzer Prize* from last year's season.
Eugene O'Neill*'s A Moon For the Misbegotten* opens this year on Broadway.
Musical comedy this year includes Alan Jay Lerner* and Frederick Loewe* memorable
Brigadoon*.
In October, Bertolt Brecht* is subpoenaed to testify before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities* (they are busy looking under beds for Commies and Pinkos). They want
to know about "Communist infiltration" of the film industry. Brecht* testifies and the next
day leaves the United States, heading for home (Berlin). Soon, Bertolt Brecht* is back home
in the Communist sector of Berlin with his theories being celebrated throughout Germany,
and later, the world.
In Britain, Terence Rattigan* is finally coming out with more serious work. This year it is The
Winslow Boy*, based on a true story of a father's attempt to clear his son of a charge of petty
theft. This will be among Rattigan*'s best work and will be popular in the commercial theatre
in England and America for the next twenty years. Laurence Olivier* at the Old Vic*
produces a new interpretation of Hamlet* based on the Freudian analysis of the central
character done by the psychiatrist Ernest Jones*. This year the Edinburgh Festival* starts up
(in Scotland,) doing music, dance, art, theatre and opera. They invite important performing
groups from all over the world which really promotes international exchange of theatre forms
and ideas.
In France, subsidized regional dramatic centers are established, twelve in all between now and
1960. Each region has a home theatre where they produce their shows and then tour. The first
ones to open are the Dramatic Center of the East in Strasbourg and at St. Etienne. This year
the Festival at Avignon* begins and one of the major theatrical leaders, Jean Vilar* (19121971) is hired to organize it. The most influential event (eventually, but not immediately) this
year is in Paris, a production, directed by Louis Jouvet*, of The Maids* by Jean Gent*. This
playwright is writing in prison (where he spends most of his life for a variety of crimes, petty
and otherwise). He will be regarded as one of the absurdists*, seeing theatre as an act of revolt
against society. He conceives of plays as masquerade and ceremony where the characters act
out their secret desires under the mask they present to the world. He wrote another play last
year but it won't be produced until 1949. Like other French writers, many of his plays are
short, what we call "one-acts." The major playwrights of the prewar years are still dominating
the stage. Jean Anouilh* comes out with his Invitation to the Chateau*.
In Italy a director named Giorgio Strehler* is one of the founders this year of the Piccolo
Theatre* of Milan. This group will become world famous and tour all over. They specialize in
traditional Italian theatre such as the works of Goldoni* and Pirandello*. This is a big break
for the Italians who haven't had a chance to see productions of these world famous authors for
a while.
The New Hero Begins To Show Up
In the United States - Director Elia Kazan* brings Tennessee Williams*' A Streetcar Named
Desire* to the stage. With Jo Mielziner* designing sets that use realistic features in
expressionistic settings, and the influence of actors trained at the Actors Studio*, the theatre
moves beyond any single style and blends styles to suit each production. This play wins the
Pulitzer Prize* next year (they get handed out after the fact). In this play the post-war hero
makes his first significant appearance. The hero, "Stanley," is rude, unrefined, brutish,
working class and, obviously, the person in charge of the current world. We will see endless
variations of this dominant hero throughout the forties and fifties before he changes into the
next hero down the line. Since the bulk of the plays in which he appears come out in the 50s,
we'll look more carefully at this hero in the next decade.
1948
Society
Truman wins reelection (much to everybody's surprise). The "Cold War" begins with the
Soviets overwhelming the democratic attempt at government in what will be called the
Czechoslovakian coup. In April the Berlin Blockade begins as the East Germans (supported
by the Soviets) deny any road or rail access from anywhere into West Berlin (which, as a
result of the four-party occupation of Germany, is an island in the middle of the Soviet zone).
Truman heads arrangements for the Berlin air-lift so that necessary supplies can reach those
living in the western sectors of the city. The blockade will continue into September of next
year. The whole American posture regarding Europe and the Soviets is known as the "Truman
Doctrine."
The United States is busy trying to rebuild western Europe so it can stand on its own again.
The means to do this is the Marshall plan (See above, 1947). Since it will cost a bundle,
Truman gets the universally respected General George Marshall to sell the price tag to the
Republican congress. Part of this economic recovery includes setting up the Organization for
European Economic Cooperation (O.E.E.C)..
Fighting breaks out in Palestine as the British mandate draws to a close. On May 14 Jewish
leaders gather in Tel Aviv to hear David Ben-Gurion* (the first Prime Minister) read a
declaration proclaiming the establishment of the state of Israel, much to the chagrin of a lot of
Arabs. Both the United States and the Soviet Union recognize the new state immediately.
However, the next morning the Arab invasion is on as the neighboring state of the Arab
League (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt) starts trying to push the Jews back into the
sea. The U.N. mediator arranges truces, fighting goes on until finally, at the end of the year
(December 29) the U.N. orders a cease-fire
There are a total of 48 television stations in all of America at this time. In ten years there will
be ten times that number.
Theatre
In France this year Sartre*'s play Dirty Hands* argues that to participate in political action
means one's hands will get dirty, but nonparticipation means other people will make the
decisions for you. That criminal playwright, Jean Gent*, is due to be sentenced to life
imprisonment (after 10 convictions for theft in France this is automatic). But, a group of
prominent writers and artists, led by Sartre*, submit a petition on his behalf to the president of
France. Gent* is granted a pardon. Henry de Montherlant* comes out with his most
characteristic work, The Master of Santiago*. Full of complex psychology and simple
external action, it centers on rejection of mediocrity and emphasizes sacrifice. The French
dramatic festivals are increasing in number. This year the one in Aix-en-Provence begins.
In Britain, Rattigan* comes out with another popular work, an evening of two short plays.
One of them, The Browning Version* is a study of a repressed schoolmaster played with
outstanding success by Eric Portman* (1903-1969).
1949
Society
East and West Germany are officially created out of the two spheres of power held by those
forces that conquered Germany. The "cold war" continues with the communist blockade of
West Berlin. In response to this increasingly militant Soviet behavior the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) is formed by the western powers to present a united western
military presence.
The Israeli War of Independence is finally over early this year in a series of armistice
agreements. Israel ends up with 21 percent more territory than it would have had under the
original partition. The Arabs seem to have engaged in a self-defeating military exercise. Not
to worry, there will be a lot more wars here over this sticky problem.
If things weren't bad enough in Europe, Mao Tse-Tung* (or Zedong) sets up the People's
Republic of China which puts a real crimp in Chiang Kai-shek*'s plans for post-war China
and he takes his people over the water to the island of Taiwan (or Formosa) to set up a
government in exile (much to the chagrin of the native population). This China business will
continue to be really sticky since, technically, there are now two Chinas with only one seat on
the U.N. Security Council.
Theatre
In the United States Arthur Miller* comes out with what will be his best-known play, Death
of a Salesman*. The refusal of the title character (Willy Lowman) to take responsibility for
his choices and his failures, affects every member of his family. This one wins the Pulitzer
Prize* this year. Jo Mielziner*s' set design for this show will be very influential.
Only 59 new productions reach Broadway this year. Costs have risen and ticket prices with
them, leaving fewer people able to afford to go to the theatre. Most plays lean toward broad
appeal to protect the backer's investment so innovation is scarce. This will drive experimental
and avant-garde theatre "off" Broadway, where, the League of Off-Broadway Theatres* is
formed this year. And, speaking of "off" Broadway, out in Texas Nina Vance* moves the
Alley Theatre* (Houston, remember?) from that old dance studio to an old factory which she
converts into an arena theatre. It opens with a production of Lillian Hellman*'s classic, The
Children's Hour*. Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the first resident professional theatre in the
United States, the Cleveland Play House* (became professional in the 1920s,) adds a third
theatre, the Euclid-77th Street (seating 567) to its original two (the Drury, seating 515, and the
Brooks, seating 160). Another musical comedy by Oscar Hammerstein II* and Richard
Rogers* comes out this year. South Pacific* is based on the stories of James Michner and will
be incredibly popular for many, many years.
In France, Another of the early absurdists*, Eugene Ionesco* (1912- ,) writes an "anti-play",
The Bald Soprano*, which will be performed next year. He's rebelling against conventional
drama, but will remain largely unrecognized until 1953 when Anouilh* will publish an article
praising his play, Victims of Duty*. The other French Absurdist*, Jean Gent* has his one-act
play, Deathwatch* produced this year.
In Germany, Brecht*'s Mother Courage* is put on in Berlin with the famous actress, Helene
Wiegel* (his wife) in the lead. This production will become internationally famous. It
encourages the East German government to come up with a subsidy to form a permanent
company called the Berliner Ensemble* (in East Berlin). For the first time much of Brecht*'s
work, written while he was in exile, will get put on the stage. He will also get to put into
practice all those theories about acting, staging and directing he's been going on about all
these years. Fortunately for his theories and his plays his wife is appointed director of the
company.
In England, There is a strong movement to bring poetry back into the theatre and this year T.
S Eliot* (1888- ) comes out with his play, The Cocktail Party* . It will have considerable
success in the English-speaking world, providing a highly literate alternative in plays
structured around ritual and dealing with individual responsibility and personal choice.
Another poetic dramatist who will have more commercial success, Christopher Fry* (1907- )
makes a considerable mark this year with his comedy The Lady's Not For Burning*.
Afterword
The Forties contain so much international political and social action that there is not much
room for a lot of activity in the arts. However, the major themes of the coming decades begin
here although it will take many years for all of them to flower. The post-war hero (rough,
tough, blue-collar, lower-class, inarticulate but sensitive) is just beginning to be explored.
Existentialism* and its resulting genre, Theatre of the Absurd*, is about to bloom. The poetic
and the expressionistic realism of Miller and Williams are about to take off. In other words,
the stage is set for the next big burst of creativity that has been so long repressed by war and
other such urgent concerns. Despite the rise in creativity there is a decline in quantity (in
America) as the new medium of television is about to explode over the land.
go to chap19
or back to PART IV Introduction or Theatre History
or go to Home
CHAPTER NINETEEN The 50s
Realism and Romanticism continue to hold their own with some changes
Introduction
Slowly but surely the world is beginning to recover from the war. Rampant nationalism and
the aggressiveness of communism dominate world events. Everywhere the seeming success of
communism in China and Russia provides a model and these two countries supply active
support for any aspiring national element trying to get ahead in this new world order. The
cooperation of the allies in World War II changes to confrontation between Russia and "the
West." This will be a decade of civil rights, communism scares and Arab revolutions. It will
also be a decade of conformity, where, all over the world, in each society, there seems to be a
desperate need to conform to whatever the social standards are in that particular country. The
effort at avid, mindless conformity will end in the late 60s in an abrupt about face.
World Events
This decade is often referred to as the American Decade because of the pervasive influence
exercised by the United States in cultural, political and, especially, economic affairs.
Meanwhile, the whole world is anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. The threat of
atomic holocaust hangs over the whole planet. Since the United States dropped those two
bombs on Japan in 1945, the Russians, Chinese, French, and who knows who else, are rushing
to build, buy, borrow or steal, their own bombs. Atomic testing is being done in all sorts of
supposedly out of the way places (like the American west, Siberia, the Sahara desert and in
various islands and empty spaces in the Pacific Ocean). The race is on to upgrade the
destructive level from atomic bombs to the more devastating hydrogen bombs. U.S. military
expenditure almost quadruples. Soviet defense spending rises by two-thirds. In the United
States they are doing a big business in selling home bomb shelters ("no back yard should be
without one") and the federal and local governments are running around designating
community bomb shelters and stocking them with food, water, medicine and everything else
needed for a (very) long stay. The 50s are a crash course in how to survive the bomb, atomic
war and the resulting devastation. Fortunately, it never happens, but during this decade it
looks more and more likely. The classic British movie of 1964 captures this 50s anxiety in
unforgettable images, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb*. World trade volume soars with monetary stability and all those international
agreements that lets goods flow relatively smoothly.
In the United States it is a decade of civil rights struggles and communism scares. The
population increases by 19 percent in what is later known as the "baby boom.". 1950 begins
with a U.S. population of 150,697,361 and, by January 1, 1960, the U.S. population will reach
179,245,000. The average weekly wage in industry $60.53, an all time high. Illiteracy is 3.2
percent, an all time low. Minimum wage is $.75 and there are 1,900,000 unemployed.
Great Britain moves toward establishing self-government in her colonies (including the
British Caribbean) and starts moving them toward independence.
Europe is slowly recovering with all that American aid funnelled through the Marshall plan.
Even though the Nuremberg trials are over, Nazis-hunting continues. So many officials
associated with the concentration camps were not apprehended and now show up on a number
of "wanted" lists.
In Asia peacekeeping armed forces are established by the United Nations* to repel North
Korean forces which are bent on taking over the whole Korean penninsula from the South
Koreans.
In Africa the colonies and territories that make up British, French, Belgian, Spanish and
Portuguese holdings begin their movements toward independence and self-rule. It will be a
rocky road.
In the Middle East and North Africa it is a time of Arab revolutions and conflicts with the
new state of Israel.
In the Mediterranean, Greek Cypriots are agitating for self-rule on the British-held island of
Cyprus. This will cause untold trouble as time goes on.
Society
The Western world is dominated by the Americans and American society. In America we are
in the middle of a social revolution. At the end of the war with millions of service men
coming home there was a real housing shortage. A construction man (named Levit) who had
served in the SeaBees construction battalion decided to remedy the housing shortage by
turning a bunch of potato fields in New York into tract housing. It becomes Levittown and life
patterns will never be the same for middle and working class people. He began in 1946 and is
now in full swing, building houses like crazy and selling them on time. The people who move
into these houses are all about the same age, are busy having kids at about the same time and
all this produces really weird suburbs where there are no age variations in the residents. Kids
grow up thinking this is normal. They also grow up watching TV sitcoms like Ozzie and
Harriet, Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best and thinking the domestic life on
television is the way it is in real life. By the time they become adults and discover the world is
quite different they will create the 60s revolution. They will be known as the "baby boomers."
A universal culture is emerging as radio and phonograph records spread American popular
music (swing and bebop) around the world. New York is now the center of the world art
market and abstract expressionism is the big thing (Jackson Pollock* and de Kooning).
Theatre Events
During the 1950s playwrights blossom and their works capture the malaise of the decade with
all the anger of unfulfilled hopes, the feelings of uncertainty and fear for the future. While a
number of French playwrights from before the war continue in the mainstream fashion, the
new movement of Absurdism* flourishes this decade and quickly reaches America.
In France, the director Roger Blin* (1907-1984) is one of the most important of the avantgarde producers of Absurdism*. He will stage the plays of Samuel Beckett* and Jean Genet*.
Another such director is Andr Reybaz* who will produce Eugne Ionesco*'s absurdist* plays
at one of those out-of-the-way theatres specializing in the avant-garde.
In Britain, festivals add to the vitality of the English theatre in Edinburgh, Chichester,
Malvern, Glyndebourne, Canterbury and Adelburgh. At the Theatre Workshop* Joan
Littlewood* (1914 -) develops a number of playwrights including Brendan Behan* and
Shelagh Delaney*. She is responsible for a number of productions which successfully transfer
to the West End and are widely acclaimed abroad, particularly in Paris. These efforts are a
constant drain on the Theatre Workshop's* resources and Littlewood* will leave the company
in 1961 to work somewhere else. Another new company, The English Stage Company*, will
prove to be the most exciting company this decade, developing such authors as Osborne*,
Wesker* and Arden*. The Stratford Festival Company* has been reformed and under the
management of Anthony Quayle* (director of company '48-'56) and Glen Bryan Shaw* (from
'53) performances regularly attract the attention of London critics. This company is rising as
the Old Vic* is declining.
THE NEW HERO In America the change to the new kind of hero is pretty much accomplished. This is evident,
not only in the theatre, but even more so in the movies. The new masculine ideal (according to
American films) is no longer the suave gentleman. Now it's the alienated, inarticulate,
working-class, physical hunk, radiating danger, sex and social disaster. Marlon Brando*, after
working in the theatre, has moved on to the movies and he represents this heroic ideal for the
over-conforming generation of young urban professionals who are trapped in their grey
flannel suits. Like the young male heroes in Williams*' Streetcar Named Desire* (played by
Brando* on stage and in the film,) and Picnic* by William Inge* (1952,) this heroic type is
rude and rough but he has sensitivity, he shows his anger but he is filled with anguish. This
new hero will show up on the stage in Britain soon in a whole movement (known as the
"angry young men.")
In America the move toward decentralizing the theatre continues.
1950
Society
At the end of the Second World War the nation of Korea had been divided along the 38th
parallel into two zones of occupation, The north was under the Soviets and the south under the
United States. In 1948 rival Korean governments had been established. In June the northern
force invade the south. The western powers win United Nations approval for a "Police
Action" in Korea to oppose the communist north's invasion. This armed conflict is the first
attempt by the United Nations to enforce its ban on armed aggression. This "Police Action"
will last from 1950 into 1953. For everybody who got used to warfare in the Second World
War, this armed conflict will come as a whole different kettle of fish. General Douglas
MacArthur is put in charge of the U.N. forces. In October the Chinese Communist forces
invade and occupy Tibet. The Dalai Lama * flees into exile in India. As the U.N. troops push
the North Korean forces back, they approach the Chinese border, this brings the Chinese
Communist forces into the action and they join forces with the North Korean army. This turns
the tide the other way and by January they will push the U.N. forces south and capture Seoul,
the main city of South Korea.
The United States is also engaged in a mutual assistance program that supplies military
hardware to the South Vietnamese.
In the United States - On January 21 Alger Hiss is convicted of espionage. He has been a
courier for a communist spy group. This sort of thing, as well as the Korean "Police Action"
against communist forces, fuels the "red" scare that is building. This year a color TV
broadcast license is issued.
Theatre
The United States - the new midwestern (Kansas) playwright, William Inge* (1913-1973,)
has his first Broadway stage success with Come Back Little Sheba* . Shirley Booth* (1907- )
is memorable in it as the talkative, pathetic and inadequate wife of an alcoholic. The set for
this play is a realistic representation of a lower-class kitchen. The fully operable kitchen
appliances, including running water in the kitchen sink, will contribute to the description of
this type of play about lower middle-class problems, which take place in the kitchens, as
"kitchen-sink" realism. Clifford Odets*, the playwright closely associated with the Group
Theatre* in the 30s, regains some of his earlier fire and comes out with The Country Girl*.
Another regional theatre gets underway this year in August, in Washington D.C., when the
director, Zelda Fichandler*, founds a group which will come to be known as the Arena
Stage*. Musical comedy is alive and well as Frank Loesser*'s Guys and Dolls* opens on
Broadway and the Pulitzer* prize this year goes to South Pacific* by Richard Rogers**,
Oscar Hammerstein, II*, and Joshua Logan*.
The ITI* begins publishing a periodical designed to disseminate theatrical information, the
World Theatre*. [Publication will continue until 1968.]
Absurdism*
France - Eugne Ionesco*'s absurdist* play, The Bald Soprano* (written in 1949,) is directed
by Nicolas Bataille* at one of those out-of-the-way theatres, (the Thtre des Noctambules,)
specializing in the avant-garde. Ionesco* calls this work a "tragedy of language." It was
earlier entitled English Made Easy because the whole idea grew out of Ionesco*'s experiences
in learning English, self-taught, from a book (English-French Conversation Manual for
Beginners). In this play words become empty shells without meaning and the characters who
speak them have no psychological reality or depth. Time, space and the whole world operate
under arbitrary and meaningless laws. The action is not a plot, but a series of social clichs.
The characters are interchangeable and can be identified only by their clothes (the fire chief,
the husband, the wife, the maid). The exciting element of the play is the language and this
attracts the attention of critics. Nonsensical dialogue, empty formulas, slogans, and even nonwords, vowels, sounds, all reveal the incredible difficulty of meaningful verbal
communication.
A sort-of-surrealist playwright, the Swiss-educated Russian, Arthur Adamov* (1908-1971)
also has his first work produced this year, The Invasion*. He will be part of the absurdist*
movement, showing (in a part serious, part comic way) a cruel world of moral destructiveness
that so attracts many artists still suffering the effects of the war. Like Ionesco*, he portrays
characters who must fail because they have an inability to communicate with each other.
Unlike Ionesco*, Adamov*'s characters suffer personal anxieties over their plight. He will not
be as popular or as influential as Ionesco*, but he will be a major contributor to this
movement.
Britain - Christopher Fry* continues to be popular as his poetic play, Venus Observed* and
his translation of Anouilh*'s play as Ring Round the Moon* are produced in London and then
on Broadway.
1951
Society
On April 11 General MacArthur is relieved of command of the U.N. forces in Korea by
President Truman* who gets fed up with the General not following orders. General Matthew
B. Ridgeway is his replacement. The fighting continues to hover around the 38th parallel and
goes nowhere. Nobody is very happy with this.
ARGENTINA - Mara Eva Duarte de Pern* publishes her book, The Purpose of My Life*
this year. Next year she will die of cancer. However, in 1978, her life and her book form the
basis for a very popular musical, Evita*.
In the United States - On June 26 the first commercial color television broadcast occurs,
unfortunately no color TV sets are owned by public which makes viewing the broadcast
problematic. This year: the employment of women reaches the highest point in history. the
first atomic powered generator begins producing electricity in Idaho. there is a demonstration
of the first commercial computer, UNIVAC . the US has poured more than 12 billion dollars
into European economic recovery since 1948 through the Marshall Plan.
There is an unshakable Arab refusal to recognize the existence of the state of Israel. The Arab
League begins an economic blockade in September that leads to a permanent state of war,
punctuated with various incidents.
In Iran the Mossadegh government nationalizes the British-owned oil industry in May. This
government won't last long.
Theatre
In France - Jean Vilar* (1912-1971) is appointed director of the Thtre National Populaire*
(TNP). He has a pretty sick group to deal with and it takes him a while to develop it, but the
TNP will become one of the most popular troupes in France by 1954. The home of the TNP is
the Palais de Chaillot* in Paris, but they play the big Avigon Dramatic Festival and tour all
over France. This makes them one of the most influential producing groups in France. Vilar*'s
production style is skimpy on scenery and emphasizes the actor, with lots of care to the
costumes and lighting. This makes touring easy and follows the production theory of the
Cartel* (the group of five French theatre artists who led the French theatre between the wars).
Another absurdist* play by Eugne Ionesco*, The Lesson*, is produced by Andr Reybaz*.
Austria also does a lot of theatrical reconstruction, most of it in Vienna.
Italy is not particularly endowed with dramatists who achieve international recognition, but
Ugo Betti* (1892-1953) is one who does. Although he started writing for the theatre in the
late 20s, it is his later plays that earn him a reputation abroad. This year he writes The Queen
and the Rebels*. He is preoccupied with guilt and power which seems to be a topic almost
everyone in the postwar world is concerned with.
Britain - Christopher Fry* continues to be popular and his biblical play, A Sleep of
Prisoners*, designed to be performed in churches, is seen this year.
In Canada the French-speaking part of that society starts the Thtre du Nouveau Monde* in
Montreal to put on French classics and encourage playwrights to do new French Canadian
works.
Germany - Although over 100 theatres in Germany were destroyed during the war, most of
them are replaced. The Germans love their theater! The Schiller Theater* opens in Berlin this
year. The Germans are heavy on theatrical technology and this new one has all the latest
machinery, complete with revolving stage, elevators, and rolling platforms. This technological
emphasis will hold true for the stage area of most of the new theaters, but out in the audience
area the boxes and numbers of balconies are reduced and sight lines improved. Erwin
Piscator* returns to Germany. He will be directing for many companies before being named
Intendant of the Freie Volksbhne* in West Berlin in 1962. In the next decade he will
popularize the emerging documentary drama in Germany. Festivals are very important and
this year the most famous, the Bayreuth Festival*, is revived.
The United States - The Circle in the Square* is opened "off-Broadway*", an expression that
defines all the smaller theatre companies who were willing to risk giving space to writers such
as Brecht*, Ionesco*, and Genet*. This theatre is specifically designed by the Loft* players,
under the direction of Jos Quintero* (1924- ), to present theatre-in-the-round. Tennessee
Williams*' Rose Tattoo* comes out this year. Lillian Hellman* continues her successful
career as a playwright, coming out this year with The Autumn Garden*. Musical comedy
shines this year in the production of The King and I* (Rogers and Hammerstein*) starring the
memorable Gertrude Lawrence*.
Movies - By now, these new American playwrights are having their plays translated into film
and, in this way they are made available to everyone. Last year Williams* ' Glass Menagerie*
came out as a film and this year it is Streetcar Named Desire * that is turned into a film
version. One of the great benefits of this close relation between theatre and film is the many
jobs are available for actors, directors, designers and writers. The theatre works are often
turned into film by their authors, or at least the authors help in the screen production. This is
the case with Williams*' plays. The movies are not simply filmed versions of the stage plays,
but rather, they are specifically recreated in the film medium. These two films will become
classics, seen down through the decades.
1952
Society
In the United States in July the new G.I. Bill is signed. It offers Korean vets same rights as
World War II vets in getting an education. In November The one-time General, now
Republican, Eisenhower*, is elected president as inflation zooms and the Treasury deficit
reaches 4 billion dollars. Much of the deficit is due to the increasing expenditures on military
research and development. This year we develop an H-bomb (more powerful than the Abomb, of course, now everybody will want one of these and we will work on developing a
cobalt bomb).
In North Africa an Egyptian army officer, Gamal Abdal Nasser*, leads a coup that overthrows
King Farouk. Nasser* becomes a rising political leader.
In China there is forced collectivization of industry, agriculture and social institutions,

accompanied by the execution of millions of people classified as political enemies of the state.
In South America there is a revolution in Bolivia. The tin mines are nationalized and there is
some land reform and status improvement for the Indians.
Theatre
Off-Broadway* comes into its own when the Circle in the Square* presents Williams*'
Summer and Smoke* to rave reviews after it failed on Broadway. Jules Irving* and Herbert
Blau* found a company called the Actors' Workshop * in San Francisco.
France - Jean Anouilh*'s Waltz of the Toreadors* is produced as this prolific French writer
continues his exploration of how a person can maintain their integrity in a world devoted to
compromises. Another absurdist* play by Eugne Ionesco*, The Chairs*, is produced by
Andr Reybaz*.
1953
Society
In the United States - Dwight David Eisenhower* (1953-1961) becomes the first Republican
president since Herbert Hoover (24 years before). Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of
selling secret information about atom bomb to USSR and, consequently, on June 19, have the
dubious honor of becoming the first civilians to be executed for espionage. The whole
business stirs up passions on both sides of the issue. This year, July 27, Eisenhower* ends the
Korean fighting but the peace settlement is tenuous. This is the official end of the "Police
Action" which we will call the Korean War.
The Balkans are falling into the Soviet sphere and the Balkan Pact* unites Turkey, Greece
and Yugoslavia in closer economic and political ties to put up a united front against Soviet
encroachment.
On March 5, in the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin* dies and there is a scramble for power. One
of the international by-products is what is known as a "thaw" in the cold war. This means that
relations between the Soviets and the West improve and things aren't quite so touchy. The
successor to Stalin* turns out to be Georgi Malenkov*.
Europe - The Coal and Steel Community comes into being, integrating these two basic
industries in six countries. A development which will grow into the Common Market. In East
Germany and in Poland the doubt and confusion about the Soviet successor encourages
opposition groups and there are riots by the workers against the repressive soviet economic
system. Red Army units move in to put down these outbreaks.
The great bulk of the French empire is in Africa, and here too, the old-fashioned imperialist
administrators use force to try to put down independence movements. These French struggles
in Africa occupy French attention throughout the '50s.
Theatre
Britain - Interest in poetic drama is still high and T. S Eliot* comes out with his play The
Confidential Clerk*.
Soviet Union - the death of Stalin* begins a series of changes in the theatrical world. Prior
censorship gradually disappears, but social realism remains the dominant theatrical form and
it is too boring to make any international impression.
France - The Lark* by Jean Anouilh* is presented. This version of the Joan of Arc story will
be popular all over the western world for the next thirty years, especially in Christopher Fry*'s
translation (see below 1955).
Absurdism Arrives - This year sees Roger Blin*'s production of the first of these absurdist*
plays to become internationally famous, Waiting for Godot*, by the Irish author, Samuel
Beckett* (1906-1989,) who chooses to live and write in France. The play expresses the
postwar doubts about understanding and controlling the world we live in. His characters
wander around in a disintegrating world, isolated spatially and temporally. They ask questions
that can't be answered and spend their time consoling and tormenting themselves and each
other. The irrationality of human experience is the main message. This play will be taken up
by all the American avant-garde theatre groups, but its most successful production will be the
San Francisco Actor's Workshop* performance in San Quentin prison. The play rings true for
those who experience the world as a prison. Finally Eugne Ionesco* begins to get the
recognition he deserves this year when the highly respected playwright, Jean Anouilh*,
publishes an article praising Ionesco*'s new play, Victims of Duty*. Although Samuel
Beckett*'s plays will be taken up by the intellectual avant-garde, Ionesco*'s plays will be
produced more widely and more often (even on Broadway) because they are more theatrically
viable. Ionesco* is concerned with social relationships, usually of middle-class families, and
how materialistic, bourgeois society dulls and deadens people. He is out to discredit
conformity, clichs, ideologies and materialism by showing characters who behave as if they
are robots, doing and saying things mechanically. He also has material things multiplying and
crowding people out. Since he was influenced by the circus, his works tend to be full of visual
action and to make fun of the inadequacies of language.
The United States - What with all the communist "witch-hunting" going on in Congress,
Arthur Miller* comes out with The Crucible*. Set in Puritan New England, it deals with the
consequences of colonial witch-hunting. Picnic* by William Inge* wins the Pulitzer* Prize
this year with another of those working-class "hunks" as the male lead. Robert Anderson* has
a Broadway success this year with his new play, Tea and Sympathy*. In New York another
"off-Broadway*" theatre opens. The Phoenix* Theatre opens under the management of Norris
Houghton* (1909- ) and T. Edward Hambleton* (1911- ). This well-equipped, conventional
theatre will offer a wide-ranging program of plays under a number of different directors. It
will play a prominent role in American theatrical development this decade, along with other
"off-Broadway*" theatres. In addition to other theatrical venues, this year marks the real
beginning of the summer festival (rather different from the European variety of dramatic
festival). The famous British experimental director, Tyrone Guthrie* (1900-71, as the
Festival's artistic director) launches a Shakespearean Festival* at Stratford, Ontario, Canada.
It uses an open stage (rather than proscenium, or arena as in other new theatre buildings of the
time). The festival and its stage are immediately successful and will influence both Canadian
and the United States theatrical developments.
1954
Society
In the United States - On May 17th racial segregation is declared unconstitutional (when the
Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education rules the "separate but equal" is not equal)
and trouble begins to pop up all over the deep south in buses, stores, schools, colleges and
universities. President Eisenhower* sends federal troops to Little Rock during the segregation
crisis there to protect black students. The country is also absorbed in the House Unamerican
Committee Hearing being run by a senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy*. These will
come to be called a witch-hunt and will really decimate the radio and the movie industries,
creating an infamous "blacklist" that prevents all kinds of people in these industries from
working for many years. These hearings are televised from April 22nd through June 17th this
year and are high on the ratings list as most widely watched. Finally the whole thing infuriates
the rest of the Senate and in December McCarthy* is condemned by Senate. The damage this
whole affair causes will last for many years. The building and manufacturing boom at the end
of the war is over and unemployment soars to 2,893,000, twice the 1953 figure. What with all
those fears about USSR (or China) attacking North America, Canada and the United States
plan to set up a ring of radar sites facing the north pole. Construction of this DEW (Distant
Early Warning) line is announced.
In Egypt Nasser* becomes premier. He will proceed to institute far-reaching land reforms and
economic and social development programs, bringing Egypt into the mainstream of modern
nations. One of his main projects is to build a dam on the Nile River at Aswan, to control the
flooding and generate electricity. Getting international financing for this project will make
enemies and threaten to destroy prominent archelogical treasures.
In Indochina, the fight to keep their colony ends with the crushing defeat of the French forces
at Dien Bien Phu. Losing the war in Indochina, and having been tossed out of the Levant,
France starts disengagement from her African colonies. All, that is, except Algeria. France
incorporates Algeria into metropolitan France. The Algerians think this is ridiculous and
object rather strenuously. This year the Algerian war of independence begins. The conflict
will be long and bloody. It will also tear apart the political fabric in France, making political
dissension the normal French way of operating.
Meanwhile, after the French defeat in Indochina there is a conference in Geneva and Vietnam
is divided into North and South Vietnam. This is followed rapidly by war breaking out in
South Vietnam as the communist-led Viet Cong (urged on by the North Vietnam government)
try to overthrow the South Vietnamese government. This is the start of the Vietnam War*
which is technically a civil war between elements in the south. It will, eventually, involve all
the other countries in the area, as well as others from the "West."
The whole Indochina mess is very upsetting to the West and a number of concerned nations
with interests in this part of the world (Australia, New Zealand, France, Great Britain,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and the U.S). form the Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization* (SEATO). SEATO is supposed to do for this part of the world what NATO is
doing in Europe, oppose Communist advances in the area and provide for mutual defense.
The rationale for having such an organization as this is the domino theory*. This view holds
that if one country becomes Communist, others in that part of the world will more than likely
follow, like a line of dominoes that are tipped over. This domino analogy is applied to
Southeast Asia this year by President Eisenhower*. Everybody in the West will be hearing a
lot about this analogy over the next thirty years.
Theatre
France - Henry de Montherlant*'s third major play, Port-Royal*, is produced this year.
Ionesco* comes out with another absurdist play, Amede*.
Britain - Brendan Behan*'s first play, The Quare Fellow* is produced in English this year in
Dublin (it was done in Gaelic first). It will be produced in London (at the Theatre Workshop*
by Joan Littlewood* in 1956) and in New York (in 1958). Christopher Fry*'s The Dark Is
Light Enough* doesn't have as great a success as his earlier plays and he will do some
translations for a while.
East Germany - The Berliner Enselble* performs in Paris this year and next. These
performances make the company internationally famous and it is considered one of the finest
troupes in the world. *They do The Caucasian Chalk Circle* at this time.
Internationally - The ITI* sponsors an annual festival, the Thtre des Nations* .
The United States - Thorton Wilder* rewrites an earlier play (The Merchant of Yonkers*,
based on a still earlier German play) into The Matchmaker* and it becomes a real success this
year at the Edinburgh Festival, then London, and next year in New York. [Later (1964) it will
be made into a musical, Hello, Dolly!*] Nina Vance*'s Alley Theatre* in Houston becomes
fully professional this year and joins the select few regional professional theatres (the others
being the Arena Stage* in Washington, D.C. and the Cleveland Play House*). In New York
City, Joseph Papp* (1922-1992) launches the New York Shakespeare Festival*. In San Diego,
California, the amateur productions of the Shakespeare festival, performed in the Old Globe*
(designed by Thomas Wood Stevens for the 1935-6 California Pacific International
Exposition and later moved to Balboa Park) are enhanced by the use of college actors and
technicians drawn from around the country.
1955
Society
This year the United States enjoys full employment and peak production. It's definitely boom
times. Consumer goods are being produced in abundance. 9.3 million motor vehicles are sold
this year. The civil rights movement takes an economic turn. When Rosa Parks* refuses to sit
in the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama (where the law says she must sit) this starts a
boycott of the bus system by Afro-Americans. The non-violent methods (boycotts, sit-ins,
etc). demonstrated by Ghandi* (in his struggle to get an independent India) are adopted by the
civil rights movement with great effectiveness. Those who oppose them, however, are quite
willing to use violence.
In Europe the Soviets counter the organization of NATO with the Warsaw Treaty
Organization which brings together the Eastern Bloc nations in a mutual defense system led
by the Soviets. In the USSR Malenkov* is out and Nikita Khruschev* is in. "Peaceful
coexistence" continues to be the Soviet line. At home, and throughout the sphere of Soviet
influence, "de-Stalinization" and moderation is the way to go and millions of political
prisoners get amnesty and return to the mainstream of Soviet society. That self-rule agitation
on the island of Cyprus erupts into violence, actually a sort of civil war. Not only do the
islanders want the British out, the Greek Cypriots want union with Greece and the Turkish
Cypriots want a partition of the island so they can govern their part differently. The whole
thing won't be settled, even temporarily, until 1959. It keeps everybody around that part of the
Mediterranean very edgy.
The new African states created through decolonization mostly share socialist ideologies. This
year they get together at a conference at Bandung to try to create an Afro-Asian bloc.
However, western economic influence and political ties with the United States continue to be
strong. The kind of thing that gets accomplished is the Baghdad Pact* (Turkey, Iraq, Iran,
Pakistan and Great Britain).
In Egypt, the premier, Nasser*, announces plans to construct a project four miles south of
Aswn It will be known as the Aswn High Dam and will make a huge lake, add over two
million acres for cultivation (through added irrigation) and generate up to 10 billion kilowatt
hours of electricity. Obviously this will cost a chunk of money. Egypt plans to come up with
two thirds (through local and foreign money) and needs about one-third from foreign loans.
Great Britain, the United States and the World Bank plan to do this funding.
In Palestine one of those Arab-Israeli "incidents" occurs in Gaza and we have the beginning
of the sticky "Gaza strip."
In Iran there is a US backed coup in August and the Mossadegh government (the one that
nationalized the Brits oil industry back in '51) is overthrown.
In South America a coup overthrows Juan Peron* in Argentina.
In Indochina Premier Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims South Viet Nam a republic (despite the
Geneva agreement that everybody over here is supposed to hold elections and unite the
country in 1956). Of course, the United States will increase their aid to this "republic" fighting
the communists to their north.
Theatre
Britain - Christopher Fry* has great success with two translations this year. He does
Anouilh*'s L'Alouette*, about Joan of Arc, as The Lark* and Jean Giraudoux*' La Guerre de
Troie n'aura pas lieu* as Tiger at the Gates*
In the United States - Tennessee Williams* comes out with one of his most enduring plays,
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof* and takes home the Pulitzer* prize for it. The plot is set in a decaying,
but affluent, rural southern family, where the major characters are protesting against the
"mendacity" of the system they live in. The memorable "Maggie, the cat" of the title is
endlessly sexual, while her husband, Brick, is denying his real sexual preference (which is not
for Maggie). Brick's father is equally busy denying his imminent demise from cancer and the
family vultures, the "no-neck monsters" and their parents hover around full of the hated
"mendacity." This play is tremendously successful on Broadway, the road, and in a film.
Another summer festival starts up this year. This one is an American Shakespeare Festival at
Stratford, Connecticut. It will run a fifteen-week season of plays for a couple of decades.
1956
Society
This year President Eisenhower* is reelected. This makes him the first Republican to win
reelection since 1900. On the medical front, this is the year the Salk antipolio vaccine
becomes available and this dread disease is slowly eradicated.
In Egypt, Nasser* becomes the president. The political climate and uncertainty over the
economic state of the country upsets the Anglo-American and World Bank offer to help
finance the Egyptian Aswn High Dam. After this deal is canceled, Nasser* confiscates the
Suez canal in an effort to make more money and to raise his country from the last vestiges of
colonial bondage. Nasser* nationalizes the Suez Canal. This goes over like a lead balloon
with Great Britain (who has owned it ever since they bought it from the French,) the French
(who regard this as a dangerous example that other North African colonial territories might
follow,) and Israel (who figure the Arab Egyptians won't let the Israelis transport through the
canal). There is a short and ineffective invasion by Britain, France and Israel in an attempt to
regain control. The British and French get together secretly with the Israelis. Israel jumps on
the Egyptian armies in the Sinai and drives them back toward the canal while the French and
British forces attack the Egyptians on the Canal and capture it. They figure this solves the
canal problem. Unfortunately for them, they are wrong. In October a U.N. Emergency Force
replaces them. The United Nations, led by Dulles (U.S). and supported by the Russians,
condemns the invasion and the British and French slink out of Egypt. The tide of world
opinion is against the colonial powers and nobody supports them. The canal is now owned by
the Egyptians, but everybody has the right to use it. It becomes obvious that, only when the
two super powers (Russia and America) permit it, can major military interventions take place.
What with all that Soviet "de-Stalinization" and moderation, there is a climate of hope in
Eastern Europe and this is dangerous. There are demonstrations in Poland and Hungary and
the Hungarians have a popular revolt. They try to establish a democratic government.
However, after a little vacillation, the Soviet Union sends in their army, with lots of tanks, and
nips the revolution in the bud (killing some 2,000 and sending another 200,000 scurrying off
into exile). The Hungarian Premier (Imre Nagy*) is arrested and later executed. So much for
the reform movement. Everybody in the western bloc is appalled and gets very fussy about
this but can't think of any effective action to take, short of dropping that dreaded bomb. This
is one of those frustrating events that makes Americans feel guilty for not doing something,
when, in fact, there is nothing that can be done, short of starting the Third World War. "DeStalinization" and moderation is also straining Russia's relations with China, where Mao
Zedong* is busy developing his own Stalin-like personality cult. He also resents the decline in
Soviet help developing atomic weapons, but the USSR is vary wary of creating a Chinese
monster.
Theatre
United States - The off-Broadway* theatre, Circle in the Square*, presents Jose Quintero*'s
production of O'Neill*'s The Iceman Cometh* to rave reviews. The Actors Studio* adds a
program designed to help playwrights. Off-Broadway* the innovative American director,
Alan Schneider* (1917-84) does the first American production of Waiting for Godot*, (by
Beckett*) starring Bert Lahr* (1895-1967, internationally famous for his film performance as
the Cowardly Lion). This is a bonanza year for musical comedy. The successful list includes
Lerner* and Loewe*'s My Fair Lady*; Loesser*'s Most Happy Fella* and Leonard Bernstein*
's Candide*. Also, Leonard Bernstein*, with lyricist Stephen Sondheim*and book writer
Arthur Laurents*, create the exceptionally successful adaptation of Romeo and Juliet* in a
contemporary American situation, West Side Story*. Here the dance sequences of Jerome
Robbins* become the main element that advances the plot. The fight between the rival gangs
is a stunning use of dance. The Pulitzer* prize this year goes to The Diary of Anne Frank* by
Frances Goodrich* and Albert Hackett*. This poignant play about hiding from the Nazis will
become a prennial favorite.
France - Genet* begins to gain an international reputation with Roger Blin*'s production this
year of Genet*'s play The Balcony*.
Swiss - Although he has been writing for the theatre since 1947, Friedrich Derrenmatt*
(1921- ) has his first international success, The Visit*, this year in that theatrical center of
Zurich. Zurich has been a haven for people escaping the war and developed as quite a
theatrical center for a while. Derrenmatt* writes about moral questions and how people are
corrupted by power and wealth.
Britain - A new company joins the Old Vic, The Stratford Company and the Theatre
Workshop this year. The English Stage Company* is formed with the main objectives of
presenting plays by young and experimental authors and producing the best contemporary
plays from abroad. Under the artistic direction of George Devine* the company takes over the
Royal Court Theatre* in Sloane Square. This new company will play a vitally important part
in promoting the works of such authors as Osborne*, Wesker* and Arden*. It will become the
most exciting theatre in London. The successful production this year of John Osborne*'s Look
Back In Anger* is a turning point in the post war British theatre, not because of its form but
because of its content. It catches the mood of the times. It's "angry young man" hero is rude,
eloquent and working-class. This is a radical change in the usual British West End play and
finally, after almost a decade, brings the "Stanley" type character (of Williams* Streetcar
Named Desire*) into the British theatre. Kitchen-sink realism is on the rise in Britain. This
year sees Brendan Behan*'s first play, The Quare Fellow* produced in London at the Theatre
Workshop* by Joan Littlewood*.
1957
Society
On October 4th the Soviets launch first earth satellite, the Sputnik I. This makes the US very
annoyed and the government creates the National Defense Education Act to funnel lots more
money into science education. The propaganda value is even greater than the evidence of
scientific achievement. "Dynamic communism" is touted as superior to "decadent capitalism".
Khruschev* enthusiastically threatens to "rain down rocket-borne destruction" whenever he
doesn't get his way with the U.S. There is a lot of criticism about the "missle-gap" (which, as
it turns out, doesn't exist, but everybody believes it does).
What with all that tension in Middle East, the United States comes up with the Eisenhower
Doctrine [which offers protection to any Middle Eastern country seeking aid against
communist aggression.] This will become a popular way for countries to take advantage of
U.S. aid and military assistance. Soon you won't even have to be a Middle Eastern country to
take advantage of this offer. Meanwhile, back home, factory workers average $82.99 a week.
In the expanding communication business the first nationally televised videotaped TV is
broadcast. There are now a growing number of Beatniks* as defined by Jack Kerouac* (On
The Road*) and others who are beginning to reject current American conformity [see
Riesman's Lonely Crowd*]
In Europe the European Economic Community is being formed to advance European

economic integration.
Theatre
Britain - Harold Pinter* (1930- ) has his first play The Room* done at Bristol University. His
work arouses little interest at the time even though The Birthday Party* (1958) will have a
short run in London. He won't become widely known until the next decade. Graham Greene*
(1904- ) is primarily a novelist but after dramatizing two of his novels he began to write for
the stage in 1953. This year he comes out with The Potting Shed*. It will be the best known of
his stage pieces. Osborne*'s The Entertainer* stars Laurence Olivier* and deals with
England's decline in vigor and values as seen in three generations of the Rice family
entertainers.
France - Ionesco* writes another absurdist play, The New Tenant* and Samuel Beckett*'s
Endgame* is staged by Blin*.
Czechoslovakia - The Prague Institute of Scenography is founded this year and the technical
devices developed over years of experimentation by Josef Svoboda* come together in
technology and design. Next year at the Brussels World Fair, several of Svoboda*'s design
forms will be seen by an international audience (the Laterna Magica). He will have immense
influence all over Europe and America and will run around designing for plays and operas.
The United States - In New York City, Joseph Papp*'s New York Shakespeare Festival* starts
giving free performances every summer in Central Park. Another playwright whose work was
successful in the 30s, William Saroyan* (1908-81,) recaptures some of his earlier vigor in a
new play, The Cave Dwellers *. The Pulitzer* prize this year goes to a pothmusly produced
play of Eugene O'Neill*, Long Day's Journey Into Night*.
1958
Society
The first US earth satellite goes into orbit this year. It's only a simple device for bouncing
radio waves off of (Explorer 1, called echo) but all over the country people are watching the
skies to catch a glimpse of its brightness passing over.
In Europe the Common Market, officially the EEC (European Economic Community) is up
and running. The European Atomic Energy Community is also founded this year to foster
common development of Europe's nuclear energy resources nuclear research and
development. This is essentially economic in nature and has wide powers to set safety
standards, operating nuclear reactors and research centers.
The Egyptian president, Nasser*, is trying to get the Arab countries to get together (like the
Europeans are doing) to further their special interests. This year Syria and Egypt form a
political union called the United Arab Republic * with Nasser* as president. This organization
get together with Northern Yemen to form a federation called The United Arab States*. The
plan is to convince all Arab states to join for their mutual benefit. Unfortunately they have
more issues that divide them than that unite them and it doesn't happen.
The Algerian mess reaches the point of threatened civil war and DeGaulle comes out of
retirement this year (and stays until he will lose a referendum in 1969) to assist in the
establishment of the Fifth Republic and become its president. He gradually accustoms the
electorate to the prospect of independence for the colonies and in 1962 Algeria will leave the
empire. He frees virtually the whole rest of the empire. Meanwhile, this year France
establishes the French Community* to replace the French Union (which didn't work). It's
supposed to create a political federation for France and her overseas department and
territories. Unfortunately, all these will choose to be totally independent so it will have no
political function.
In China there is the "Great Leap Forward" effort which is supposed to increase the pace of
development. Since it relies on labor and does not include investment, the whole four-year
effort doesn't accomplish anything much.
Theatre
Britain - Christopher Fry*'s translation of Giraudoux*' Pour Lucrce* as Duel of Angels*
comes out this year but it won't appear on Broadway until 1960. The trend in Britain toward
the "kitchen-sink" realism is taking interest away from poetic drama and T. S Eliot*'s The
Elder Statesman* does not do as well as his earlier works.
New Plays and playwrights this year include Arnold Wesker* (1932- ,) who has his first play
Chicken Soup With Barley*, produced in Coventry and transferred to London. Peter Shaffer*
(1926- )'s first play Five Finger Exercise* is directed by Gielgud* and has a great success in
London (but will go on to New York next year. At the Theatre Workshop* Joan Littlewood*
is busy bringing out Shelagh Delaney* 's play, A Taste of Honey*. Brendan Behan*'s second
play, The Hostage* is produced in English this year in Dublin (it was done in Gaelic last
year). It will be produced in London (at the Theatre Workshop* by Joan Littlewood* in 1959)
and in New York (in 1961).
The United States - Television is growing by leaps and bound. In the last ten years the number
of stations has grown from 48 to 512 and the number of television sets is now over 50 million.
Edward Albee* (1928- ) writes his first play, The Zoo Story*. It will be produced in Berlin
next year and won't be see in America until 1960. Meanwhile, off-Broadway isn't enough to
serve the theatrical needs of New York and this year marks the beginning of "off-offBroadway*" with the use of Joe Cino's Caf Cino* as an art center. These "fringe" theatres are
often eating establishments that provide performance space on occasion. However, they will
grow in number and in influence during the next decade. Out in San Diego the Shakespeare
festival, performed in the Old Globe* in Balboa Park is upgraded by the use of professional
actors in leading roles together with the college actors and technicians drawn from around the
country.
Swiss - Max Frisch* (1911- ) writes Biedermann and the Firebugs* this year also in that
theatrical center of Zurich. Frisch* writes about guilt and rationalization of the characters for
their actions.
Italy - One of the best-known directors, Franco Zeffirelli* (1923- ,) is invited to direct abroad.
He will work internationally from here on out. Most of the artistic effort in Italy is devoted to
film where the Italian neorealism of this decade is making an international mark.
1959
Society
This year the United States decides to add two more stars to the flag and on January third
Alaska is admitted to the union as 49th state. On the 21st of August Hawaii is admitted as the
50th state. The last Civil War veteran dies on December 19 at the age of 117
Latin America - There is a revolution in Cuba (where the guerrilla campaigns have been going
on for two years) and the Batista, U.S. backed, dictatorship is overthrown by the communist
dictatorship of Fidel Castro*, backed by the Soviet Union. Refugees flee to Florida and many
get to work planning a counter-revolution.
In France, General de Gaulle* makes some reforms through his minster of culture in the
theatrical scene. French West Africa is dissolved this year and the territories that made it up
move toward independence.
In the Mediterranean there is a "settlement" of the Cyprus mess, providing neither union nor
partition, but independence from the British in 1960. It won't settle much, but at least the
British will be out of the loop.
Theatre
In France the absurdist have a banner year. Genet* comes out with The Blacks* and Ionesco*
produces The Killer*. The new minister of culture, Andre Malraux*, founds some new
dramatic centers and promotes regional cultural centers with fifty percent funding for them.
All this in addition to subsidizing promising new dramatists and companies. This financial
security and abundance enables all kinds of experimentation in the French theatre that isn't
financially possible in the United States, but corporate America is about to help level the
playing field.
In Britain there is a promising new playwright, John Arden* (1930- ,) who will be compared
with Brecht because of his preoccupation with moral and social problems. His best known
work, Serjeant Musgrave's Dance* (an anti-military work), comes out this year. It's a failure
right now but it will be done a lot later (New York 1966). After 1967 he'll collaborate with his
wife, Margaretta D'Arcy*.
In the United States - Little theater gets a boost from big business. The Ford Foundation* has
a new director who will make helping theatre a priority. This year the Foundation makes
sizeable grants to a number of small companies including the Arena Stage*, the Alley
Theatre* and the Actors' Workshop*. Now it's possible for these to continue as fully
professional theaters. Out west, the political theatrical group, San Francisco Mime Troupe*,
forms under R. G. Davis*. These people are into doing adaptations of commedia dell'arte*
scenarios, free in the parks of San Francisco, for people who don't normally come to the
theatre. The Afro-American experience finally appears on stage in a classic play by Lorraine
Hansberry*, Raisin In The Sun*. This is a forerunner of the surge in Afro-American theatre
productions and plays coming up soon. The Pulitzer* prize goes to an interesting poetic
telling of the Biblical story of Job, J. B.* by Arichbald MacLeish* with striking sets by Boris
Aronson*. A forerunner of the 60s shows up when the collective theatre group, the Living
Theatre*, led by Judith Malina* (1926- ) and Julian Beck* (1925-1985) produce Jack
Gelber*'s The Connection*. This group has been fumbling around with poetic and
nonrealistic production techniques since their founding in 1946. Lately they have bee
influenced by the ideas of Artaud* and Brecht* and this production marks a turning point in
their work. They will win a number of awards in New York with this now and later at the
Thtre des Nations* in Paris. We'll hear more about this group as time goes by. Edward
Albee* writes The Death of Bessie Smith* this year. Like his first work, it will be produced
abroad before it is seen in this country. His day will come in the early sixties. Tennessee
Williams*' Sweet Bird of Youth* comes out this year. The talk of Broadway this year is the
musical The Sound of Music* by Rogers and Hammerstein*.
Afterword
Theatrically, the 50s have been full of experimentation reflecting the lower middle-class
realities of the postwar world in the kitchen-sink realism and the anxieties about the atomic
age and the rush to social conformity in the absurdist movement. Production groups are
becoming more diverse and spread around outside the big theatrical centers of London, Paris
and New York. Those who fought the Second World War and the civilians who lived through
it have had fifteen years to put their lives in order, make babies and try to bring some sense
out of their life experiences. Now the "baby-boomers," the children born since the war, are
beginning to grow up. The next decade will be full of wrenching social changes and the
soothing stability of the classic musical comedies.
go to chap20
or go to Home
CHAPTER TWENTY The 60s

The American Musical Comes of Age and So Does Social Protest
Introduction
All over the world there is social unrest. The communist and totalitarian societies react with
repression and tanks in the street. The western democracies react as best they can, usually
with police in the streets. Much of the unrest seems to grow out of the emphasis given human
rights ever since the end of the world war. No one can figure out exactly how to define what
"human rights" ought to be, not to mention how any society can maintain a stable social order,
requiring social regulations and still ensure the priority of these "human rights". What
happens is that both sides, the state and the human rights advocates, keep fighting each other.
Meanwhile the space race is on with the Soviets off to a running start followed closely by the
United States. France will be working to get into the game very soon. Meanwhile there are
longer and longer flights in orbit, unmanned trips to Mars, Venus and Mercury, and the
American venture which lands astronauts on the moon. The space age is definitely here and
the technological spin-off it generates will spawn new industries all over the place.
While the third world is busy trying to catch up by building larger and larger cities, the whole
concept of the industrialized city is beginning to change. The rapid increase in
communications and transportation is encouraging business and workers to move out of the
city. This throws the metropolitan areas into increasing economic crisis as their financial base
slips slowly away, taking the higher paying jobs with it. Poverty, lower paying service jobs
and increasingly expensive maintenance needs create an ever-greater financial crunch for the
developed world's cities.
The "Eastern Bloc" has a real problem keeping its citizens from fleeing to the west so they
build the Berlin wall to keep them in.
In the world of art, abstract is now mainstream. Jackson Pollock* (known by the media as
"Jack the Dripper") becomes popular as does Roy Lichtenstein*'s comic strip style. The
experimental dance works of Merce Cunningham*, often performed to even more
experimental musical pieces of John Cage* provided the same abstract search for meaning as
the theatrical absurdists. Popular music is becoming more and more concerned with making
social statements and voicing political dissent. The exception to all this social protest is a
grpup of four guys who get together and begin making music in Liverpool (England) and
rapidly go on to conquer the world. These are, of course, the Beatles*, who, by the middle of
the decade, are known for a "hard day's night."
World Events
In the United States, it is a decade of assassinations, civil rights legislation, protest against
military involvement in Vietnam, social and sexual revolution. There are an increasing
number of violent and not-so-violent groups working for social change, from the "Black
Panthers" and the "Weathermen," through the Student for Democratic Action (SDA). This is
the time of the "flower children," the "hippies," draft card burning, flight to Canada to escape
the draft (by "underground rail-road",) the increasing opposition to the Viet Nam conflict
(including soldiers "fragging" (demolishing them with fragmentation grenades) their officers
in their bivouacs. In Africa countries are becoming independent from their former colonial
masters. Kenya in '63, Zanzibar (which then unites with Tanganyika to become Tanzania,)
Zambia, Malawi, Kenya and the Congo People's Republic in '64, Gambia in '65. Cyprus
becomes independent from the U.K. in '60 and then violence breaks out between the Greek
and Turkish elements. In '64 the U.N. will try to calm things down (with little success). One
of the commercial problems in the independence of all these various places around the world
is that most of the countries expropriate industries, mining operations, etc. and nationalize
them. The international investment community becomes much more wary of putting money
into "unstable" countries. "Unstable" means that you can't be sure who will be running the
country next month and whether you will be able to do business with them or not.
Theatre Events
In the United States the musical blossoms and is exported around the world. Off-Broadway
theatres no longer devote themselves to classics. Instead, they start doing single productions
that appeal to a limited audience, or, they show-case new plays that are not commercial
enough to appeal to Broadway producers. The dominant movements in the 60s show up offoff-Broadway* . This designation refers to performances held in cafes, lofts, garages,
churches and any available, cheap, small space. Elaborate staging is out and intimate actoraudience relation is in. Some of the prominent groups engaged in this activity are Theatre
Genesis*, Caf Cino*, Caf La Mama*, American Place Theatre*. Minority theatre (AfroAmerican, Latino, special interest subject matter reflecting the life experience of those who
are not white, male, Anglo-saxon, protestants) is growing and developing in these production
spaces. The Living Theatre* is very busy in the 60s searching for new and different theatrical
forms and pushing political discussion. until real life on the streets overtakes their political
ideas and they begin to fade.
The new British theatre flowers in two major companies, a new theatre building and
internationally acclaimed directors who then travel abroad to direct.
Theatre is busy reflecting the social unrest and the changes in social mores. One of the ways
art deals with society is in a new form called "happenings"*. Allan Kaprow*, painter and art
historian, in 1959 publishes an outline for an artistic event he labels a "happening." Last year
he gave the first public showing of one of these, entitled 18 Happenings in 6 Parts*. The
audience becomes part of the art work by following instructions and interacting with the
artistic environment. The term "happenings"* will come to refer to all sorts of artistic events
where improvisation is a central feature and the audience is actively included in the work.
These are all multimedia* events designed to break down any barriers between the various
arts.
1960
Society
The United States has to admit that it is flying spy missions (in the U-2) over the Soviet
Union when the Soviets shoot down one of them, piloted by Francis Gary Powers. This is
politically embarrassing and Powers is imprisoned in Russia. There are "summit" meetings,
this year Khrushchev (the Soviet Union,) Macmillian (Great Britain,) Eisenhower (the United
States) and de Gaulle (France) meet in the fall to hash out differences and play oneupmanship.
One of those Nazis who escaped judgement at Nuremberg is captured, the former Gestapo
chief, Adolf Eichman*. He will be tried by Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity
(he was in charge of the "final solution" and the death camps). Films and plays will be written
about his trial. Germany bans Neo-Nazi political groups.
In the United States it's election time and television plays a really big role now. The debates
on TV between Richard Nixon* (Republican) and John Kennedy* (Democrat) will become
historic. Kennedy* wins the election and becomes the first Roman Catholic to be elected to
the presidency. By this time U.S. subsidies make up 75 percent of South Viet Nam's budget.
The US population stands at 179,323,000 and there are 85 million television sets (there are
10.5 million in Britain, 1.5 in France and 2 million in West Germany).
The satellite business is getting under way and the United States launches its first weather
satellite (Trios I) this year.
One of the first signs of change in the role of women can be seen this year when three women
are admitted to the ministry of the Swedish Lutheran Church.
Theatre
In France - Absurdism* is alive and well as what will become Eugne Ionesco*'s most famous
play, Rhinoceros*, is produced.
In Great Britain - Robert Bolt* comes out with a popular play A Man For All Seasons*. It is
about the historical English figure, Sir Thomas More, and deals with the importance of
standing by your principles. It will be made into several movie versions. Terence Rattigan*
comes out with his play, Ross*.
The United States - Edward Albee*'s (1928- ) first play, The Zoo Story*, is finally produced
in America this year. In theatre architecture, the Loeb Theatre* at Harvard University opens
this year. It is a partial realization of the theatre design of George Izenour* which features
flexible stage floor level, seating modules that move into proscenium, thrust or round
audience arrangements, and, computer-controlled rigging and lighting. This is the year of
musicals that will become classic. Camelot* based on the book (The Once and Future King*)
by White*, with music by Lowe* and lyrics by Lerner* opens on Broadway to magnificent
success. A lighter and more topical show, Bye Bye Birdie*, with music by C. Strouse* and
lyrics by Lee Adams*, will be revived frequently as a recurring American phenomena.
1961
Society
In the United States J. F. Kennedy* (1961-63) is inaugurated as the 35th (and youngest)
president. The US severs diplomatic relations with Cuba on January 3rd. In April there is an
abortive attempt by Cubans who fled the Castro revolution (based in Florida and assisted by
the CIA) to retake their country. It will be known as the Bay of Pigs, since that is where they
land in Cuba. Everybody (the U.S., Cuba, the Cubans in America, etc.) is unhappy about this
escapade. Cuba, particularly, is nervous and turns to the Soviet Union for help and protection.
This will lead to an international crisis in the near future. The U.S. Senate takes a good look at
the reactionary John Birch Society
Meanwhile things are getting tense in Europe and the Eastern Bloc is having trouble keeping
its citizens from leaving home and moving to the west. In August East Germany begins to
build the "wall" which will soon make a concrete "iron curtain" between the Soviet dominated
part of Germany and the rest.
Adolf Eichman* is found guilty in his trial held in Jerusalem.
Theatre
In France there is also political and protest theatre going on. In the early 60s in Paris, the
Thtre de le Commune* is busy using Brechtian production techniques to put on plays by
Brecht* and Peter Weiss* (1916-82) with public discussion groups, lectures, readings and
such like to get audience response to the theatre piece.
Britain - Harold Pinter* (1930- ) has his play, The Caretaker*, produced in London this year
and next year in New York. Finally, with this play, he begins to gain some prominence.
Pinter* is probably the most influential of the modern English playwrights. The motives of his
characters are often obscure, their background indefinite and their fate at the end of the play
indeterminate. His plots are about everyday situations but they are filled with menace,
mystery, uncertainty and ambiguity, all of which he renders with consummate stagecraft.
There is always a lot of unspoken subtext. In his plays things which could be amusing or
pleasantly ambiguous become anxious, filled with pathos and fear. Usually his characters are
put in some predicament and are busy trying to defend themselves against some unknown,
often undefined danger. Arnold Wesker* continues to write successful, socially conscious
plays and this year he takes over the directorship of Centre 42, a working-class art movement.
The British parliament charters a second national theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company*,
under the direction of Peter Hall* (1930- ) which now plays half the year in Stratford and the
other half in London. They will get busier as time goes on.
In the United States - Neil Simon* begins writing. In New York City Ellen Stewart opens the
Caf La Mama* in the basement under an Italian restaurant. New and uncommercial plays are
presented here for a week's run. Based in New Hampshire, Peter Schumann*'s Bread and
Puppet Theatre* is concerned with trying to give a sense of ritual through their use of giant
puppets, dance, processions and symbolic imagery. This group does productions that are very
gentle (compared with other social action groups) and usually end by sharing bread with the
audience in a gesture of community. The memborable musical this year is How to Succeed in
Business Without Really Trying*, based on Mead's novel, with music and lyrics by Frank
Loesser* (1910-).
1962
Society
The United States establishes a U.S. military council in South Viet Nam. In October there is
the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is when the U.S.S.R. installs missile bases in Cuba and the
U.S. insists they be withdrawn. It's a pretty tense time but both sides (the Soviets and U.S.)
are reasonable and take things slowly. This will lead to the establishment of the "hot line" in a
couple years. The missile bases are dismantled in return for U.S. taking out some Turkish
bases and assuring Cuba we won't invade. Meanwhile, a Soviet spy is traded for the U-2 pilot,
Gary Powers, and he gets to come home. Some people are annoyed that he didn't commit
suicide when captured.
The visibility of the civil rights struggle is raised a notch when the Governor of Mississippi
denies admission to the University to the Afro-American, James Meredith. A federal court
finds the governor in contempt and the feds send in marshals and 3,000 soldiers to contain the
riots when Meredith arrives on campus to start classes.
In Jerusalem, Adolf Eichman* is hanged.
Western society begins to notice that not all scientific advances are unmixed blessings. The
drug, thalidomide, turns out to cause severe malformations in children born to mothers who
took it while pregnant. There is a big stink in Europe and America over this. But science
marches on and this year there is a Nobel Prize awarded to some Brits and an American for
determining the molecular structure of DNA.
Theatre
In the United States, Martin Esslin* publishes his book, The Absurd Theatre* and Edward
Albee* comes out with his full-length, more realistic play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*.
This one catches everybody's attention and makes the upcoming (1964) book Games People
Play* by psychologist Dr. Eric Berne* a popular best seller. Soon everybody is up on
transactional analysis*, and "I'm OK, You're OK" becomes a good way to start a
conversation. Arthur Kopit* comes out with his satiric, sort-of absurd, Oh Dad, Poor Dad,
Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad*. [You will notice that play titles
are becoming too long to fit on a theatre marquee.] Mental illness is becoming a serious topic
for drama and Ken Kesey* writes One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*. The city of New York
builds the Delacorte Theatre* in Central Park for Joseph Papp*'s New York Shakespeare
Festival* productions. It opens this year with Joseph Papp* directing The Merchant of
Venice*. This theatre will become enormously successful, attracting top Broadway stars to
perform for city audiences who attend free of charge. The musical fits right in with all the
excitment about a new president. Mr. President* is based on a book by Lindsay* and Crouse*,
with music by Irving Berlin*.
In Britain the originally chartered National Theatre* company is created out of the Old Vic*
under the direction of Sir Laurence Olivier* (he has been knighted for his theatrical work).
Meanwhile the Royal Shakespeare Company*, under the direction of Peter Hall* is expanding
this season. It is now the largest theatre company in the world with 24 productions. This year
it makes theatre history with Peter Brook*'s production of King Lear*.
In Brazil, the Teatro de Arena* begins to produce more classics, interpreting them in ways
they shed light on Brazilian situations. They are beginning to develop a unique theatrical form
(similar to the American Living Newspaper* of the Federal Theatre Project). This "Arena
Contra..." theatre is openly didactic, urging the audience to take some specific action. Their
plays tour easily and this group goes to small villages and remote locations as one of the most
effective education tools in the country.
Movies - There is international mourning this year when Marilyn Monroe* dies. Her death
will show up in plays (see below in 1964) and movies later on as her cult continues. The big
hits of the year are Cleopatra* (with Richard Burton* and Elizabeth Taylor*, who both
perform on stage as well as in the movies,) Lawrence of Arabia* and The Manchurian
Candidate*.
1963
Society
In the United States we begin to be aware of a "credibility gap" between the truth and official
government reports of events in Cuba, Viet Nam, etc. The public is starting to be annoyed
about being lied to. Some of the unrest may be due to rising unemployment which is now at
6.1 per cent. The music of the day is sung by Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez
and includes such social protest favorites as "Blowin' in the Wind". Civil rights and riots are
filling the news. Civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama lead to riots and
beatings of the demonstrators by Whites and police. The mess ends up with the arrest of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.* and President Kennedy* calls out 3,000 federal troops to quiet things
down. In August 200,000 "Freedom Marchers" descend on Washington to demonstrate for
civil rights and addressing the crowd, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.* gives his "I have a dream"
speech (August 28) at the Lincoln Memorial. The U.S. sends financial and economic aid to
the Buddhist-led military coup that overthrows the government of South Viet Nam. This is the
year of the first use of an artificial heart.
On November 22nd, in Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy* is assassinated. The entire event
dominates television as Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson* (1963-1969) is sworn into
the office of president, the alleged assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald*) is caught and then
murdered (on live television) by Jack Ruby.* There is great national and international
consternation over the assassination.
In Europe there is a great deal of dickering over whether or not Great Britain will, or can,
come into the Common Market and de Gaulle* keeps them out. In Great Britain this is the
year of the big scandals among high government officials (Profumo call-girl scandal and
Stephen Ward's suicide). On the International scene a nuclear test ban is agreed to by the
Soviets, the U.S. and Great Britain. France, of course, doesn't. The Soviets and the U.S. agree
on a "hot line" between the White House and the Kremlin (in case they need to talk to each
other quickly over misunderstandings). In the arena of Space progress continues as the
Soviets put the first woman astronaut into orbit and the U.S. has 22 orbits by Gordon Cooper*
in an Atlas rocket.
In The Middle East the United Arab Republic is formed with Syria and Iraq agreeing to
Union.
Theatre
In Britain there is a landmark production by the Theatre Workshop* under the direction of
Joan Littlewood*. Oh! What a Lovely War* is a hodgepodge of songs, skits, slides and other
Brechtian* devices as a pseudo-documentary of the First World War. The intent, and the
result, is a satisfying anti-war production. It will be so popular (and influential) that it will be
made into a movie (a less usual thing in Britain). Meanwhile the prestigious and innovative
Royal Shakespeare Company* is doing a cycle of Shakespeare*'s history plays under the title
The War of the Roses*.
The Deputy* by Rolf Hochhuth* places the blame for the German extermination of the Jews
on Pope Pius XII's refusal to take a stand against Hitler's policies. This very controversial
documentary play is banned in many countries.
The Tragedy of King Christophe*, a play about the problems of French postcolonialism, is
written by Aime Cesaire*, a black playwright born in Martinique. The French are impressed
by his plays and he will have several more on this same theme produced in the following
years.
At the Prague National Theatre in Czechoslovakia, Josef Svoboda* (that terrific, innovative
designer) creates a spectacular kinetic space for a production of Romeo and Juliet*. Hanging
screens and panels that can move in any direction, platforms and steps on treadmills and
hydraulic lifts move on and off stage, raise and lower and change direction so that the space
flows with the rhythm of the action. He continues to expand the technological sophistication
of stage design.
In the United States this year, the Living Theatre* puts on Kenneth Brown's * The Brig*. The
Caf La Mama* opens theatrical productions in a different location off-off-Broadway this
year. This will become one of the most influential of the experimental spots in New York.
The Open Theatre* group is established this year by Joseph Chaikin* (who used to be with
the Living Theatre*) to explore "collective creation" and the relation between live performers
and audience. Other regional theatres starting up this year include the Tyrone Guthrie
Theatre* in Minneapolis, the Seattle Repertory* (in Seattle of course), and the Center Stage*
in Baltimore. There are two memorable musicals this year. She Loves Me* a musical based
on a Parfumerie play, with music by Jerry Bock* (1930-) and lyrics by S. Harrick*. The
second will be come one of the most revived among schools and communitytheatres. Oliver*
is a musical based on Dicken's novel (Oliver Twist* ), with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart*.
At the Movies there are films about cardinals (The Cardinal*), Italian history (The Leopard*),
sexy English romps in the eighteenth century (Tom Jones*) and the classic British movie, Dr.
Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb*. Meanwhile, Alfred
Hitchcock* brings out his scary, The Birds*.
1964
Society
In the United States under President Johnson* there is a continuing increase in the number of
personel involved in American military advisement in Vietnam. This increase accelerates as
time passes. There is an alleged attack on an American destroyer just off shore from Viet
Nam. This is used as a reason for the United States to escalate the military action and engage
in air strikes against North Viet Nam. There is heavy fighting. In last year's assassination
business, Jack Ruby* is found guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald* and sentenced to death,
but it won't matter, he'll die of cancer next year. The world's longest suspension bridge, the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, opens to traffic in New York. The United States is busy
benefiting from the "Brain-Drain" in which great numbers of British scientists emigrate to this
country. This is the year of the massive earthquake in Alaska which severely rearranges the
costal scenery and sends tidal waves as far south as the middle of California. The "Twist" is
abundantly visible in dancing establishments and many people escape to discotheques where
they can watch "go-go" girls set the pace.
Riots are increasingly in the news. This year there are riots in New York's Harlem and many
other U.S. Cities against enforcement of those new Civil Rights Laws. But riots aren't
confined to social protest, 300 people are killed in Lima, Peru in riots at a soccer match.
In Britain they are busy drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea. They'll find a great deal of it
soon. Social changes are evident in two opposing youth trends, the "Mods" and the "Rockers"
who have several collisions in the sea-side resorts at Easter.
In Africa last year Keyna became an independent country and this year Zanzibar becomes a
republic, unites with Tanganyika to form Tanzania and Northern Rhodesia becomes the
independent republic of Zambia.
Theatre
In Britain, the German author (resident in Sweden since 1939,) Peter Weiss*, becomes
internationally known through his first play, The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as
Performed by the Inmates of the Charenton Asylum under the Direction of the Marquis de
Sade*, better known by its short title, Marat/Sade. It is an emotion-charged study of the
killing of the French Revolution leader, Jean Paul Marat (in his bath by Charlotte Corday,
July 13, 1793,) as enacted by the residents of the insane asylum where the Marquis de Sade
(1740-1814) spent considerable time. [You may recall the terms "sadism" and "sadistic"
which derive from this illustrious gentleman, known for his sexual perversions and author of
two obscene novels]. The premier production in Britain is directed by Peter Brook* and
produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company*. This rapidly becomes a landmark event in
theatrical circles and is internationally acclaimed. Pinter* writes The Homecoming*. John
Osborne* writes Inadmissible Evidence*. Peter Shaffer* continues to produce successful
plays. This year it is the drama of the Spanish conquest in The Royal Hunt of the Sun*
In the United States, Arthur Miller* comes out with a searching drama about responsibility in
relation to the "Holocaust," Incident at Vichy*. He also does After the Fall*, another play
about personal responsibility that includes some rather autobiographical scenes about a
character who seems to be Marilyn Monroe*. Both plays will be popular and widely done.
The Living Theatre* exhibits Mysteries and Smaller Pieces*. This is one of the radically new
forms of theatre developed in response to the post-World War II world. The idea is to go
outside the traditional patterns and find new ways that will enable society to construct a better
world. They get evicted from their theatre by the Internal Revenue Service and the group
picks up and moves, lock, stock and families to the coast of Belgium. This year the Caf La
Mama* gets its own space and a permanent company under the direction of Tom O'Horgan*
and changes its name to the La Mama Experimental Theatre Club*. The one-act plays of a
new author, Sam Shepard*, begin to be produced Off-off-Broadway*, including Cowboys*.
Another regional theatre starts up in Louisville, Kentucky, the Actors Theatre* . This one will
grow into an internationally renowned center for producing new plays. This year the Black
Arts Repertoire Theatre School* starts up in New York.
The popular musical, Fiddler on the Roof*, with book by Sheldon Harnick* and music by
Jerry Bock*, opens this season, as does Hello Dolly!*, based on that play of Thorton
Wilder*'s (The Matchmaker*,) with book, lyrics and music by Jerry Herman*. The third
winner is Funny Girl*, a musical based on the life of Fanny Brice* as told in an original story
by J. Lenmart, with music by Jule Stein* (1905-) and lyrics by Bob Merrill*. All three of
these shows will be produced, toured and performed all over the world for at least the next
thirty years, and, of course, made into immensely popular movies.
Movies this year include Disney's Mary Poppins*, Peter Brook*'s Lord of the Flies*, and the
film version of My Fair Lady*.
In France a group of young French students and theatre artists organize the Thtre de Soleil*
as a theatre collective. They will be very successful in the next decade in the collective
creation* type production.
1965
Society
In the United States in August, from the 11th through the 16th there are massive riots in the
Watts section of Los Angeles. Twenty thousand National Guardsmen are called out to end the
racial riots. Television captures it all and brings it into the world's living rooms. This is the
year of the great North American "blackout" when a power failure affects 30 million people in
the northeast. Nine months later there is a noticeable increase in the birth rate. There is
increasing momentum for anti-pollution legislation on a national scale.
The Soviet and U.S. astronauts are busy doing "space-walks" which test equipment and
techniques. "Op" art is the latest rage in the art world. Non-objective optical illusion based on
color, form and perspective manipulation. Picasso is still coming out with new paintings and
the Beatles are making another movie.
In Africa, Gambia becomes independent. There's a revolution in Algeria and the President is
deposed. There is the Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
Theatre
In Great Britain the plot of The Killing of Sister George* by Frank Marcus* centers on the
importance of characters in on-going television series to performers in them. Edward Bond*
comes out with Saved*, which concerns the roots of horror and violence.
In Germany, Shakespeare* is the most produced author with 24,009 performances of his
plays. The German Schiller* is the second most popular, followed by another Englishman, G.
B. Shaw*.
In the long run the most important theatrical event of the year will turn out to be taking place
in Poland. A Polish director named Jerzy Grotowski* (1933- ) had begun a small theatre in
Opole in 1959, but this year he moves the theatre to the university city of Wroclaw and his
company is renamed the Polish Laboratory Theatre*. Grotowski* is interested in the relation
between the theatrical text, the actor and the audience and he will pursue innovative acting
techniques and unusual staging. Prominent theatre artists in Europe will take notice and soon
Grotowski* will travel to lecture and demonstrate his methods. He is possibly the most
influential experimenter in teaching acting since Stanislavski* and the Moscow Art Theatre*
in the early part of the century. Much of his technique is based on Stanislavski*'s work and
many of the central ideas of existentialism. One of his central elements concerns teaching the
actor to open himself up (reveal himself) to the audience and the text. In the existential term,
the actor has disposibilit. He is responsible to others in the company and to the audience.
Like many other experimenters of this time, Grotowski* tries to simplify the production and
eliminate everything that is not vitally necessary. [see below 1968.]
In the United States ethnic theatre is beginning to spring up and much of it is also protest and
political theatre. The Chicano El Teatro Campesino* starts up this year, under the leadership
of Luis Valdez* (1940-,) a former member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe* who is
reacting to the plight of the Chicano farm workers in California. It is devoted to encouraging
and informing Chicano farm workers through performing at union meetings. It will soon leave
the union hall. The regional theatre, the Long Wharf Theatre*, starts up in New Haven,
Connecticut. It will become one of the most highly regarded resident companies in the
country. Doing both classic and modern plays, this company will also do world premiers and
send the productions on, with little or no change, to open on Broadway. The Lincoln Center*
for the Performing Arts opens this year. It includes an opera house, a large theatre for
musicals and dance works, and the legitimate theatre, the Vivian Beaumont*. Frank D.
Gilroy* gets the Pulitzer* for his play, The Subject Was Roses*. This is also a good year for
musicals. The first is Man of La Mancha*, a musical based on Don Quixote* with music by
L. Pockriss* and lyrics by J. Darwin *. The second is On A Clear Day*, with music by
Richard Rogers* and Burton Lane * and lyrics by Lerner*. Off-off-Broadway* more Sam
Shepard* one-acts, Chicago* and Icarus's Mother*, appear.
1966
Society
There are International Days of Protest against U. S. policy in Viet Nam. Miniskirts become
the fashion. American style supermarket retailing spreads around Europe and the Far East.
Color TV is getting popular. In northern Italy there are terrible floods which ruin thousands of
art treasures in Venice and Florence.
Theatre
In the United States this year Joseph Papp* opens the year-round operation of the New York
Shakespeare Festival* by adding the Public Theatre* to the Delacorte Theatre* in Central
Park. The Open Theatre* group, under Joseph Chaikin*, produces America Hurrah!* and one
of their workshops under Megan Terry* comes out with Viet Rock* which is produced by La
Mama Experimental Theatre Club*. This is a busy time for the experimental groups, and, as
you can see, they are interconnected. Another regional theatre, Theatre Atlanta* starts up in
Georgia. Edward Albee* has a new play, A Delicate Balance*, on Broadway. The Musical
Man of La Mancha* continues as the big hit of the year, with music by Mitch Leigh*. It's
followed closely by the new opening, Mame* by Jerry Herman*, and Cactus Flower* by Abe
Burrows*. The big movies this year include two based on plays, A Man For All Seasons* and
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*. The first full-length Sam Shepard* play appears, La
Turista*.
In Britain Arnold Wesker*'s company, Centre 42, begins performing in the Roundhouse
where he will remain until he disbands the company in 1970. Peter Shaffer* comes out with
his very successful play, Black Comedy*. An experimental theatre group is started up in
London by Mark Long* and others. It is called the People Show* and they are into that
"collective creation*" business, building productions on partial scripts supplied by Jeff
Nutall* to develop individual creativity among the members. They start out doing productions
designed around where they are done. Later they will do shows to tour. They will tour widely
through Western Europe and the U.S.
1967
Society
The animosity between Israel and the Arab states breaks out in the "Six-Day War" with Israel
taking the Sinai, the old city of Jerusalem, part of Jordon, and advancing into Syria. There is a
cease-fire between Syria and Israel but the Arab nations reject the Israeli proposals for
negotiations. The Soviets sever diplomatic relations with Israel and Israel declares Jerusalem
a united city under their rule. Things in this part of the world will not get much better.
There are riots in various places around the world. In Hong-Kong, 5,000 people riot. In the
United States Afro-Americans riot in Cleveland, Newark (July 12-17) and Detroit (July 2330, U.S. paratroopers restore order). Puerto Ricans riot in New York. The American Nazi
Party leader G. L. Rockwell is assassinated in Arlington, Virginia. 700.000 people march in
New York in support of American military in Viet Nam and 50,000 demonstrate against the
Viet Nam War at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr.* leads
an anti-Viet Nam war march in New York and another protest march goes on in San
Francisco. Britain is having disagreements with China over the number of communist
newspapers in Hong Kong and the Chinese sack and burn the British chancery in Peking
China explodes its first hydrogen bomb, which makes everybody very nervous. Dr. Christiaan
N. Bernard performs the first heart transplant operation in Cape Town South Africa. This is
very encouraging for the medical community.
The U.S. space program has a setback when three astronauts die in a fire in a space capsule
still on the ground.
Theatre
In France, Samuel Beckett* is writing Ttes mortes*.
Great Britain - Tom Stoppard* comes out with his popular play, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead*.
In the United States Arthur Miller* comes out with his play, The Price*. The Negro Ensemble
Company* is founded this year. [Afro-Americans are called "negroes" at this time, but many
are insisting that they be called "black," as in the "Black Power"* movement which has a
conference in New Jersey this year.] Whatever the designation, this company is one of the
major ethnic performance groups that will stimulate playwrighting and performance to more
realistically reflect the life experiences of this minority. The New Lafayette Company* also
starts up this year with its mission of being an exclusively Afro-American theatre. Jules
Feiffer* writes Little Murders* this year. Robert Shaw* comes out with one of those plays
about Adolf Eichman*'s trial, The Man in the Glass Booth*. Regional theatres starting up this
year include the American Conservatory Theatre*, better known as A.C.T., in San Francisco,
and the Mark Taper Forum* in Los Angeles. Another New York City theatre group starts up
this year. The Performance Group* is founded by Richard Schechner* to experiment with
environmental theatre, group processes, actor training techniques and (just like all the others)
the audience-performer relationships. This bunch are into "collective creation" [see above].
Their first production will come out next year. This year Joseph Papp* founds another theatre
in New York City, the Public Theatre*. In California El Teatro Campesino* separates from
the farm worker's union and becomes an independent artistic organization.
This is the year of the rock musical Hair*, by Gerome Ragni* and James Rado* and Galt
MacDermott*. It is first directed by Tom O'Horgan* for the off-off-Broadway La Mama
Experimental Theatre Club*. This production will go on to open the off-Broadway Public
Theatre* on the 17th of October and have a long run (1,750 performances) on Broadway next
year at the Biltmore Theatre* [see below].
The traditional musicals of the year are You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown* the musical
based on a book by Persson and Whitelaw (which is based on the Peanuts comic strip by
Charles Schultz*) with music and lyrics by Clark Gesne*. An equally successful one is
Cabaret,* based on Christopher Isherwood's play, I Am a Camera*, about a young American
writer in Berlin in the middle 1930s. The music is by J. Masterhoff, J. Kander and F. Ebb.
Both musicals will continue to be produced, revived and performed for at least thirty years.
Cabaret* will also become a popular film.
In films the last Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn movie, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner*,
is finished just before Tracy's death. The Schlesinger production of Taming of the Shrew*
with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is a popular favorite.
1968
Society
In the United States, politically this is a very trying year. Because of the opposition to the Viet
Nam War, there are bitterly fought political races. Senator Robert Kennedy* announces that
he will run for president. Then President Johnson* announces that he definitely won't run
again. Martin Luther King Jr.* is assassinated on April 4th at a Memphis motel. Scotland
Yard arrests James Earl Ray* in London and he is extradited to stand trial for the killing. And,
just as Senator Robert Kennedy* wins the democratic primary vote in California on June 5th,
he is assassinated by a Jordanian, Sirhan Sirhan*. The Democratic Convention is held in
Chicago with abundant television coverage of the riots, police brutality and political bullying.
This national spectacle effectively demolishes public confidence in the party and marks the
beginning of the end for old-style political brokering of the conventions of both parties.
Richard Nixon* (Republican) promises to end the Viet Nam conflict and is elected the 37th
President of the U.S. by the narrowest margin since 1912. Crimes of violence in the United
States have increased 57 per cent since 1960. There are now 78 million TV sets in the U.S.,
25 million in the U.S.S.R., 19 million in Britain, 13.5 million in West Germany and 10
million in France. Most of what is shown on these TV sets is produced in the United States.
This dominance of the television screen will continue through the end of the century, a reality
of technological dominance which infuriates the French and bothers other countries.
American television, however, becomes increasingly indebted to the British for high quality
productions which are shown mainly on Public Broadcasting Stations. Communication by
way of television is increasing by leaps and bounds.
One of the hallmarks of the 60s is the innovative architecture (especially the "geodesic
dome") of Buckminster Fuller*. This year he is awarded the Gold Medal by the Royal
Institute of British Architects.
There is a big flap about the North Koreans capture of a Navy intelligence ship, the "Pueblo".
Her crew is finally released in December.
This year and next a wave of student violence breaks over U.S. in reaction to societal and
governmental hypocrisy and policy. Similar riots take place in France this year in May and
June.
This year there is a crisis in Czechoslovakia ending with massive arrests and occupation by
Soviet and Warsaw-Pact nations' troops. The reforming government of Alexander Dubcek* is
thrown out and strict communist party rule imposed.
There is a terrible earthquake in Iran, killing 12,000.
In Egypt they finish building the Aswan High Dam and it goes into operation.
Theatre
In the United States the Living Theatre* returns from Europe to a world of social upheaval.
The audience preference for new and spontaneous theatre helps launch the Living Theatre* as
the embodiment of political theatre. They open with a new piece conceived by the group,
Paradise, Now*, which makes a strong theatrical (and social) statement. They will do a
nationwide tour next year. The Open Theatre* group, under Joseph Chaikin*, comes out with
The Serpent* . The Performance Group* under Richard Schechner* produces their first
production, Dionysus in 69*, which is loosely based on Euripides*' play, The Bacchae*. It has
grown out of improvisations and has several opportunities for the audience to participate
actively in the performance as it explores sexuality, freedom and repression. Schechner* also
is an editor of TDR* (The Drama Review) and this year he publishes his six "axioms" to
clarify the term "environmental theatre*" which he has popularized. Another dramatist and
director, Richard Foreman*, a practitioner in the postmodernist-poststructuralist mode, starts
up his own company, the Ontological-Hysteric Theatre* in which he designs and directs his
own work. They are mainly meditations on art in which he "deconstructs" the theatrical art
work and the process of thought as part of the production (usually from a seat in the front row,
using tape recorded or amplified comments. The social and sexual revolution is well
underway and plays are showing up that deal with topics that had been taboo a few years ago.
Matt Crowley*'s The Boys in the Band* deals with homosexual characters and Peter Nichols*
play, Joe Egg*, deals with the disabled and mentally impaired.
The Pulitzer* this year goes to Howard Sackler*'s The Great White Hope*. In the somewhatabsurd vein, Edward Albee* writes Box-Mao-Box* and Arthur Kopit* opens his new play,
Indians*.
This year that Polish experimenter, Grotowski,* visits and lectures in the United States and
Britain and puts out a book on his work, Towards a Poor Theatre*. His work is already
influential here.
Neil Simon* begins his career as a comic writer with three one-acts under the title, Plaza
Suite*. This show will be produced, revived and performed for years, as well as being turned
into a movie.
There is the traditional musical, George M!*, the musical version of the stage life of George
M. Cohan*, featuring his music and lyrics.
The most socially definitive play of the decade moves to Broadway this year. It is referred to
as an "American tribal love rock musical." Hair* [see above] makes use of the new musical
rhythms, structures and sounds of hard rock and electronic instruments. The "dawning of the
Age of Aquarius" echoes and re-echoes through the social fabric, touching on the drug
culture, hippies, the new sexual morality, the generation gap, and most enduringly, peace
demonstrations and a strong anti-war message. It will be made into a movie and revived many
times whenever there is the social need to express a desire for love and a revulsion with
fighting and war. [The most notable revival may be the production done nightly during
intense enemy shelling in Sarejavo (once Yugoslavia,) in the 1992-5 civil war.] There will be
little in the way of rock musicals to follow this one.
In Britain, Joe Orton* writes a zany play, Loot*, and Muriel Spark* comes out with the
surprisingly popular The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie*. Another experimental English traveling
troupe, the Welfare State International* , is founded by John Fox* and Boris Howarth*. This
group is deeply into "collective creation" which combines visual arts, theatre, music, myth-
making and magic. The members of this group call themselves Civic Magicians and
Engineers of the Imagination. Their whole point of view is that art is intrinsic to life and not a
separate part. They are big on "celebrations" of events (like birth, marriage, the coming of
spring, etc.). Environmental sculpture plays a big part in these celebrations. They will go
around creating events all over England, Poland, West Germany the Netherlands and
Australia. Another experimental touring company, based in London, is Pip Simmons Theatre
Group*. Its founder and director, Pip Simmons*, supplies original scripts that are based on
existing works as starting points. They are busy, this year, developing a production style that
includes pop music (which they compose and perform,) acrobatic movement, narration and
dialogue. Tom Stoppard* comes out with another absurdist* plot in his delightful The Real
Inspector Hound*. The Royal Shakespeare Company* faces the resignation of its director,
Peter Hall * (and his staff,) and the 28 year-old Trevor Nunn* takes over the leadership.
The movies are very successful with film adaptations of plays, The Lion in Winter* and The
Odd Couple* and the musicals Oliver* and Funny Girl*. The whole social preoccupation with
space is best expressed in film, and this year 2001: A Space Odyssey* comes out.
1969
Society
In the United States Richard Nixon* is sworn in as President and begins to fulfill his pledge of
withdrawing from Viet Nam. By the end of this year 75,000 U.S. troops will come home.
Unfortunately, because of the bitter opposition to the war, returning troops will not find the
usual enthusiastic welcome earlier veterans experienced. [Not that there was any great
welcome for those who returned from Korea, but no one seems to remember that war.] There
are hundreds of thousands of people in several U.S. cities demonstrating their protests against
the war. Meanwhile, the ugly massacre of civilians at Mylai* has become known and Staff
Sergeant David Mitchell and Lieutenant William Calley are ordered to stand trial on murder
charges. The whole Viet Nam mess continues to split the social fabric of the country and
arouse great negativity abroad. However, things are just as violent here at home where
Charles Manson* and several of his "hippie clan" are indited for the gruesome slayings of
actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends at her home in Los Angles. The U.S. experiences
pretty bad weather this year. Camille is the strongest hurricane to hit since 1935 and it
devastates the Mississippi Gulf coast. Rains in California follow the usual dry spell and send
mud slides that wreak extensive damage (10,000 homes) and kill 100. On the positive side,
Apollo 11's moon mission is successful and this July 21st marks the day when Neil
Armstrong* sets foot on the moon's surface. ["one small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind."] The U.S. is trying to increase its oil productivity and this year they are buying up
leases in Alaska like crazy. On the popular cultural side it is interesting to note that Harold
Robbins receives a two and a half million dollar advance for his novel, The Inheritor* but the
Soviet novelist, Alexander Solzhenitsyn* is expelled from the Soviet Writer's Union for his
work. This is the sort of thing that attracts all sorts of artists to the West and lures many of
them move to the United States.
Internationally 39 nations send representatives to Rome to look into pollution of the oceans
and seas. Inflation becomes a world-wide problem. Women are relieved to discover that pants
suits have become acceptable everyday wear.
Ever since the end of the Second World War and the de-colonization began there have been
crises in Africa involving starvation, civil war in which one ethnic group attempts to eradicate
another, refugees and drought. Currently the crisis is in Biafra and the Red Cross is busy
flying in relief airlifts.
In France - Early in the year de Gaulle* says he will serve out his presidential term. Later in
the year he resigns
Ever since the end of World War II, Britain has been having terrible times trying to control
Northern Ireland. The conflicts only get worse. The Irish Catholic nationalists are violent, the
Protestants are violent and the British government is violent. All in all there is violent fighting
in Ulster and terrorism will spread to England. The government sends in 600 troops to Belfast
to put down rioting. The London School of Economics and Political Science has to close for
several weeks because of student disorders. One of the major social problems in Great Britain
is the great influx of diverse ethnic people who are native to Africa and the East but who
choose to be "English" rather than whatever the new independent countries are becoming.
There are members of Parliament who propose government financed repatriation of Asians
and Africans and other members who insist on limiting the number of those who can come in
to England. This will not be an easy problem, either.
Israel gets a new leader as Golda Meir* becomes Prime Minister.
Theatre
In the United States - the sexual revolution is obviously in full swing as New York sees the
opening of Oh! Calcutta!*, referred to as a "sex revue", and including total nudity. The Living
Theatre* ends their tour and leaves the country again, mainly because their leftist audiences
argue that if they are true to their political ideas, they should quit performing and join the
fight in the streets. Without this radical audience there is hardly anybody left to see their
shows. Some members of the group go off to Brazil (but the authorities there don't like their
calls for revolution). The Performance Group* under Richard Schechner* comes out with
Makbeth* (that plays around with the plot and characters of Shakespeare's* play). In Chicago
a previously active theatre, Goodman Theatre*, is reactivated as one of the regional theatres.
This year a very controversial Romanian director, Andrei Serban* (1943- ,) comes to the
United States. He will try all sorts of things to make older plays seem fresh. Musicals this year
include Promises, Promises* with music by Burt Bachrach* and a book by Neil Simon (but
based on the screenplay The Apartment*,) and the patriotic 1776*, (book by Peter Stone* and
music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards* ) which covers the signing of the Declaration of
Independence.
In Britain Joe Orton* has died but one of his absurd and hystericly funny plays, What the
Butler Saw* is produced posthumously. At London's Ambassadors Theatre* they are
celebrating the 7,000th performance of the Agatha Christie* play, The Mousetrap* as it
begins its 18th year of performances. This charming murder mystery will break all theatrical
records for length of run. This year the Pip Simmons Theatre Group* performs their first
work, their unique version of Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale*. The films this year include a
film version of the play, Oh! What a Lovely War*
In Czechoslovakia* the plays of Vaclav Havel* are banned. He arranges to have his plays
carried to the West where they are published. His reputation as a playwright of political power
begins to grow. At home he is busy being an outspoken critic of the current politics and a
leader of the dissident movement.
In France Samuel Beckett* gets the Nobel Prize* for Literature this year.
Afterword
The Cold War and the hot Viet Nam conflict drag on, draining the economic resources of all
involved countries and focusing society's attention on value systems that include military
actions. Terrorism and assassination are depressingly common around the world. There is a
growing environmental movement all over. In Europe it begins to show up in "Green"
political parties and movements.
Social protest, and its reflection in theatrical experimentation and social activism is now
actively under way. These will continue and expand in the next decade. The trend toward
smaller theatres and theatre groups who address smaller audiences with specific interests will
also continue to develop. Minorities are busy taking theatre into their own hands rather than
depending on the commercial theatre to toss them a few crumbs. The emphasis is on
expressing the life experience of every element of society and the world in new and startling
ways. The trend toward collective creation, environmental art, and a break with "modernism"
(which is now called postmoderism) calls attention to how the theatrical piece is being made.
This is accompanied by deconstruction (or post structuralism) which is busy examining how
much potential meaning is left over regardless of how much is included in a production. What
this means is, no matter what the playwright thought the play meant, there is always
additional, different and more meanings that can be attributed to the play. This does not
necessarily make playwrights very happy, but it gives directors a terrific boost.
Emphasis tends to be more on experiencing the present moment. There is expanding interest
in all sorts of ways of getting in touch with one's self: Yoga, Trancendental Meditation, Tao,
Tai Ching, EST and any available form of psychic well-being. Everybody is either dropping
out (of traditional society) or dropping in (to a "group," a collective, or some such). The
popular music includes Peter, Paul and Mary, the Grateful Dead and any number of new
sounds and faces as reported in the Rolling Stones.*
go to chap21
or go to Home
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE The 70s

Social Activism takes a new turn and it's Living Theatre.
Introduction
This decade witnesses the end of the Vietnam conflict, the rise of more underground terrorist
organizations, and coups in Latin America. Oil is one of the most prominent features of the
decade as Arabs withhold it, ships break up and spill it, and the North Sea and Alaska yield
more of it. On the plus side the last of the old colonial African countries gain independence. It
is also the decade of the women's movement, which will blossom in women's theatre as we
move into the next decade.
World Events
While the threat of international nuclear war appears to be receding, a number of smaller
conflicts are becoming nastier. The Arabs and Israelis are on an increasing collision course, as
are the Indians and Pakistanis, the Greek and Turkish Cypriots and the Protestant and
Catholics in Northern Ireland.
The most obvious violence is international terrorism*. Last year in the fashion world Europe
came out with a new look called "terrorist chic." Bombing remains the favorite activity of
terrorists. It's easy and one person can handle it. A rival Palestinian faction bombs the
headquarters of another Palestinian group in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 121. Lots of hostage
taking and seizing of embassies goes on. In 1978, Arabs seize the Iraqi embassy in Paris.
Later in the year Iraqui terrorists invade the Paris PLO office and kill a couple of officials.
Airline hijackings remain a popular form of terrorism. In 1978 Palestinian hijackers (who
have murdered an editor of an influential Egyptian newspaper) take a Cypriot jet liner on
Cyprus. Egyptian commandos sent to free it are met with gunfire from Cypriot National
guardsmen. Assassinations and armed assaults are still another form of terrorism that
continues. Also in 1978, Arab guerrillas hijack an Arab bus near Haifa, Israel. Gunfire is
exchanged and the bus bursts into flames, killing 37 civilians. This year the international
community is finally making a few moves to counteract international terrorism*. The heads of
seven nations meet in Bonn and agree to cut off air services to and from any country that fails
to prosecute or extradite hijackers.
Richard Milhous Nixon* (1969-1974) is currently President of the United States (elected in
1968) and is busily trying to get the U.S. out of that sticky Viet Nam business. He is also
facing economic problems and social unrest at home, while reversing a lot of the social and
economic welfare programs instituted under President Johnson*. In an effort to attract the
South to the Republican party, Nixon* weakens the federal government's commitment to
racial equality. He will appoint four justices to Supreme Court altering the balance of the
court to conservative. This is the decade that sees the demise of American magazines like
"Look" and "Life." This decade there are a number of indictments of CIA and FBI officials
(including former acting director and other officials) for lying to congress, approving illegal
break-ins and searches, and generally behaving as if this country's laws do not apply to them.
This, too, will continue to be a growing problem.
Theatre Events
This is the period of "performance art" which covers a wide range of artistic efforts. Some
events involve a specific action ["Lead Sink for Sebastian" melts an amputee's metal leg]
while others focus on the human body as an art object, including dance and video
combinations. The first full-scale work will come along in 1982. One of the performance
artists, Rachel Rosenthal*, in 1971 becomes aware of feminist art and begins her current
career in performance.
In the United States the Viet Nam protest has given rise to a minor, but interesting theatrical
movement called guerrilla theatre*. [Erika Monk* writes about this activity.] Guerrilla
theatre* involves a bunch of anti-war activists who plan an event (complete with costumes,
props, actors and a plot line) and then notify the media that "something" will be taking place
(for example, a confrontation at the gates of the Pentagon at two o'clock). At the appointed
time (if the media has shown up) the action begins, going something like this: someone goes
up to a soldier on guard and puts a flower in the barrel of his gun, some movement is made to
provoke the guard, and the activist breaks a hidden bag of theatrical blood on his/her head,
making it look (to the cameras recording the event for the nightly news) as though the soldier
struck the unarmed, flower-weilding activist. Many of the plots are more involved, but the gist
of the action is to make the authorities look irrational, brutal and guilty for the television
audience. By and large it is a very successful propaganda enterprise. This is also the time of
the rise of the Mabou Mines* and of women in the theatre, such as JoAnne Akalaitis*, actress,
designer and director. The American musical of this decade centers on dance. There is little of
the traditional joy associated with previous decades and the leading characters are more likely
out to change the environment that to win the boy or girl. The dominant composer is Stephen
Sondheim* who, as a follower of Leonard Bernstein* , channels the musical into more
complex musical structures and more thought-provoking themes. More complex vocal
groupings appear in his work.
Playwriting is being developed throughout the regional and off-off-Broadway theatres, by
resident playwrights. Their works are created for their own companies and not aimed at
Broadway productions (even though successful plays often move on to Broadway.) The
O'Neill Center* in Waterford, Connecticut has regular, annual playwright's institutes for
selected new playwrights to work on their scripts. There they have the benefit of professional
actors, directors and critics to do workshop readings and stagings of their work-in-progress.
Again, some of these eventually break though to Broadway productions, but many more are
produced in regional theatres. This level of playwrighting activity is new to the United States.
This is also the decade which sees the rise of the feminist* theatre. Among the groups that
spring up, and which will last into the next decade, are At the Foot of the Mountain* (based in
Minneapolis, Minnesota,) The Omaha Magic Theatre * (Nebraska,) the Caravan Theatre*
(Lexington, Massachusetts,) Rhode Island Feminist Theatre*, Spider Woman Theatre
Workshop* (Brooklyn,) Women's Experimental Theatre* (New York,) and the Los Angeles
Feminist Theatre*. As with the Afro-American and the Latino theatre groups, the feminist
theatre movement finds that conventional theatre does not portray their life experience. These
groups are referred to as "alternative theatre" because they are concerned with producing and
generating theatre which provides an alternative view of life to the standard fare. While some
of the groups are dedicated to social and political action, most are primarily into developing
playwrights and production styles suitable to the subject matter of concern to women.
In Europe theatre is becoming very international with the foundation of the International
Center for Theatre Research* in Paris. The Prague National theatre's designer, Josef
Svoboda*, is into multimedia techniques.
In Britain, the RSC* (Royal Shakespeare Company*) continues to be the largest and most
influential theatre company in the world.
In Greece there is an interesting architectural departure as the Greek director, Minos
Volonakis*, develops The Theatre of Rocks* by finding rock quarries that have good
theatrical acoustics and setting them up for theatre events. This will become popular in several
regions of Greece and provide places that are away from the center of town and closer to the
local residents.
1970
Society
Terrorism gets under way this year with Arab terrorists hijacking three commercial jet liners
bound from Europe to New York. This fills the nightly news for weeks. There is an
assassination attempt on the Pope when he visits the Philippines. In Quebec they have
emergency wartime authority invoked to combat separatist terrorism.
Disasters this year include a massive cyclone and tidal wave in East Pakistan, killing
thousands.
In Egypt the Aswan High Dam is officially dedicated.
In the United States the anti-war protests on college campuses culminate in the protest at Kent
State University where the Ohio National Guard is called in to restore order and ends up
killing four unarmed students. This fills the television fare pouring into Americans living
rooms and is pretty much the last straw for those opposed to the war. Some 448 universities
and colleges are closed or on strike. Economically things are pretty terrible and the stock
market really plummets. The census shows the smallest number of men in ratio to women in
U.S. history, 94.8 to 100. The U.S. Post Office is replaced by an independent U.S. Postal
Service. The "in" thing for women's fashion is the pants suit.
Theatre
In the United States, that terrific comedy playwright, Neil Simon*, comes out with The Last
of the Red Hot Lovers*. Stephen Sondheim*'s musical, Company* begins to move the
American musical in a new direction.
The innovative theatre group, Mabou Mines* (with Lee Breuer, Ruth Maleczech, Philip
Glass, David Warrilow and Joanne Akalatis*,) becomes a resident company of La Mama
ETC*. Joanne Akalatis* has worked as an actress, designer and director with the group. She
will become best known for her directing work. Lee Breuer*, writer and director, is best
known as the creator of performance events known as Animations*, all of which are directed
by Akalatis*. This group will stay here through 1973.
The playwright, Megan Terry*, continues to produce plays throughout this decade. This year
she does Approaching Simone*. What is often referred to as "bizarre realism" is showing up
in the work of two playwrights, Sam Shepard* and the Chicagoian David Mamet*. Bizarre
realism refers to plays in which there are recognizable places and events (that's the realism
part) which are twisted and warped by violence (that's the bizarre part.) This year Sam
Shepard* comes out with Operation Sidewinder*. He will spend much of the early 70s living
in London where his works begin to appear this year.
In Great Britain there is a pretty good murder mystery, character play by Antony Schaffer*
called Sleuth* and David Storey* writes Home*. The RSC* (Royal Shakespeare Company*,)
under the current leadership of Trevor Nunn*, is busy with Peter Brook*'s production of A
Midsummer Night's Dream* which garners international acclaim and becomes a landmark
production in contemporary directing style. This production is so successful that the company
expands into two additional smaller performance spaces, one in London and one in Stratford.
They add national and international tours and start doing more experimental work in their
repertoire. After all this international success hits him, Peter Brook* turns away from
commercial production in November and organizes the International Center for Theatre
Research* in Paris. This organization is dedicated to promoting international investigation
into the nature of theatrical performance. Since you can't do this without an audience, the
group produces theatrical events.
In France, Ionesco* is still writing. This year he comes out with Jeux de massacre*. The
Thtre de Soleil*, that theatre collective devoted to socio-political causes, comes out with a
production this year, 1789*. This one brings them international attention and helps popularize
the notion of collective creation* . The production style is pure theatre, performed in an open
room with the audience in the center and a bunch of raised platforms surrounding them. The
show is done in Italy first, and then back at their home base in Vincennes, France, where it
will run for the next two years and play to more than a quarter of million viewers. Their
performance space, the Cartoucherie*, is a converted 19th century munitions plant outside
town. It has none of the usual theatrical architecture (proscenium arch, reserved seats, etc.) so
they can experiment in various spatial arrangements.
1971
Society
Violence is fairly common all over the place. Northern Ireland reacts with increased violence
to Great Britain's policies of preventative detention and interments without trial. India and
Pakistan go to war when India takes sides with Bengali rebels. Algeria confiscates control of
all French oil and gas interests inside their borders, but promises compensation. Bengal has a
natural disaster with a cyclone and tidal wave that kills about 10,000 people. Los Angeles has
an earthquake (not the "big" one) that kills 60 people and leaves around a billion dollars in
damages. Twenty bodies are found in Yorba Linda, California, where a farm contractor killed
and buried them. Riots in Attica* prison lead to the deaths of ten guards and 32 prisoners as,
after five days of rampage, police storm the prison.
In the United States the government pursues the Viet Nam conflict by bombing extensively
the supply routes in Cambodia and Laos as well as North Viet Nam. The economic crunch is
being dealt with by Nixon* through a wage and price freeze, among other things. The 26th
Amendment to the Constitution is ratified. It allows 18-year-olds to vote. Amtrak begins
operating passenger service this year and cigarette advertising ceases on radio and television..
This is a big year for main land China (the Communists under Mao Tse-Tung* (or Zedong) as
distinguished from the nationalist Chinese on Taiwan). Diplomatic envoys are exchanged
with Canada and Henry Kissinger* is busy arranging a China visit by Nixon*. Meanwhile
China is admitted to the UN where nationalist Tiwan has held the China seat on the Security
Council all these years.
Women are granted the right to vote in Switzerland but denied it in Liechtenstein. A primitive
Stone Age tribe (the Tasadays) is discovered in the Philippines. Indonesia holds its first
election in 16 years.
Theatre
In Britain there is a new team of musical writers who come out this year with what will be
called a "rock opera," Jesus Christ Superstar* with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber* and
lyrics by T. Rice*. It will cross the Atlantic to America, also this year.
In the United States the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts* opens in
Washington, D.C. This is an exciting event, providing excellent facilities in several different
theatres. Finally the capital city of the country has theatrical facilities comparable to European
capitals. The Chicano group, Teatro Campesino*, is becoming less political and more
mystical. It moves to San Juan Bautista, California and becomes concerned with the Chicano
search for identity. Neil Simon* comes out with a new play, The Prisoner of Second
Avenue*. Those authors of "bizarre realism" are busy this year. Sam Shepard* comes out
with Mad Dog Blues* while in Chicago David Mamet* comes out with his first play, Duck
Variations*. Meanwhile, off-Broadway* (at the Cherry Lane Theatre*) there is a hippie, rock
musical that will become immensely popular. This one is Godspell* with the book by JohnMichael Tebelak* and the music and lyrics S. Schwartz*.
1972
Society
World violence continues in various ways. The world is shocked by a hammer-weilding
fanatic who seriously damages Michelangelo*'s Piet*. This year's Olympic games in
Munich are marred by Arab terrorists killing two Israeli athletes and taking nine others
hostage. All nine are killed in a shoot-out with West German soldiers and police. Arab-Israeli
violence continues to erupt throughout the Middle East. In Northern Ireland Britain imposes
direct rule in an attempt to reduce the violence between Catholics and Protestants. 467
Northern Irish are killed in the course of this year. In the Philippines the President, Ferdinand
Marcos, takes advantage of some communist actions to declare martial law and assume
dictatorial powers. In Chile, the Marxist President continues nationalizing large industrial
concerns. In South Korea the president declares martial law. Nature continues marauding with
hurricane "Agnes" causing about $1.7 billion damage in the eastern U.S. In Managua,
Nicaragua, an earthquake kills at least 10,000.
On the productive side some of the Indian and Pakistan problems are solved by the
establishment of the state of Bangladesh as East Pakistan. The European Economic
Community* gets Ireland, Denmark and Britain as full members. The Paris peace talks on
Viet Nam continue. The U.S. finally returns Okinawa to Japan. The Russians manage to softland their space craft, Venus 8, on the planet Venus. The Egyptian president (Anwar el-Sadat)
tells the Soviet "military advisers and experts" to go home immediately.
In the United States the International relations news is positive. Nixon visits China and
Russia, secures a cease-fire in Vietnam, and begins to withdraw American troops. By the end
of the year there will be only 24,000 troops still over there. The military draft is phased out
and replaced by an all volunteer armed services. Economically, the U.S. devalues the dollar.
The election process this year is marred by the attempted assassination of (independent
candidate) George Wallace on May 15th. Later it will be discovered that the Watergate
Affair* also begins during this time (on June 17 five men are arrested for breaking in to the
Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate complex). Nixon*, and his running mate
Spiro Agnew*, win the election easily. For the first time there seems to be a noticeable
shortage of U.S. petroleum products. This will gradually become a real problem.
Theatre
In the United States the musical experiment Don't Bother Me I Can't Cope* combines poetry
and dance in a recital fashion. The more traditional musical, Pippin*, explores heroism. Neil
Simon* comes out with a new play, The Sunshine Boys*. The hit musical is Grease*, with
book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs* and Warren Casey*. This celebration of the idiocy of
high school will become an often revived classic on the community theatre and school circuit.
The South African playwright, Athol Fugard*, is forcefully investigating the social structure
of his country in a growing body of plays. This year he develops Sizwe Banzi Is Dead* and
Statements After Arrest* through improvisation, based on actual occurrences in the actors'
lives. This is becoming one of the major ways of developing theatrical pieces.
1973
Society
Violence in the world continues as fighting breaks out again in the Middle East between
Arabs and Israelis. OPEC (Arab oil-producing nations) puts an embargo on oil shipments to
the U.S., western Europe and Japan in retaliation for their support of Israel. This cut-off
precipitates an energy crisis in the industrialized world. Since nobody knows when the oil
embargo will end, and the Americans aren't sure how bad their shortage is, there are cutbacks
in home-heating and transportation services as well as fuel-consuming industries. There are
not only long lines at the gas stations, many stations run out of gasoline entirely.
Consequently there is a serious attempt to cut consumption and push alternative sources of
energy. This is the time of the popularity of solar power, geothermal power, ethylnol, and all
that sort of stuff. In the U.S. an additional 100,000 are unemployed by December. The
violence in Northern Ireland continues with 250 killed this year. Militant American Indians
occupy the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee* for 70 days to call attention to their
demands. A military junta takes over the government in Chile. Juan Pern* and his second
wife, Mara Estela Martnez de Pern*, are elected president and vice president of Argentina.
On the productive side, East and West Germany establish diplomatic relations. The U.S. and
the U.S.S.R. sign a treaty to limit nuclear war.
In the United States there are two major preoccupations. The first is the ending of the Viet
Nam conflict with two different cease-fires, one in January, followed by continued fighting,
and another in June, followed by continued fighting [at the moment there have been over
51,000 American deaths (combat and noncombat) and $109.5 billion U.S. expenditures; the
South Viet Namese lost over 185,000; the North Viet Namese and the Vietcong lost over
1,300,000 in civilian and combat]. The second preoccupation is the snowballing Watergate
Affair*. The five guys who broke in plead guilty and implicate Republican party officials.
Nixon* forces his aides, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, to resign. Everybody is busy
obstructing justice and implicating the President. Things go from bad to worse over the
question of the White House tape recordings. In the midst of this there is serious talk of
impeachment, and the Vice President, Spiro Agnew* , resigns on August 10 over a matter of
income tax evasion. This resignation requires naming the Republican leader in the House of
Representatives as the vice presidential replacement. Gerald Ford* takes the office of Vice
President on December 6. The Supreme Court rules that states may not prohibit abortions
during the first six months of pregnancy. [Roe vs. Wade.]
Theatre
In Britain, Peter Shaffer* comes out with Equus*, a frightening psychological study which
will go on to international success. The Feminist Theatre is very busy, and Maria Irene
Fornes* brings out Fefu and Her Friends*.
In the United States, the films this year include The Godfather and the movie version of the
musical Cabaret*. On stage Langford Wilson* comes out with the popular Hot l Baltimore*.
Stephen Sondheim*'s musical A Little Night Music* becomes very popular, bringing complex
vocal work together with and very little traditional action and dance. On the more traditional
side is the stunning dance-heavy musical, Pippin (book by Roger O. Hirson, music and lyrics
by Stephen Schwartz*) in a commedia del'arte style, telling the story of the son of
Charlemagne the Great. Bob Fosse* directs and does the choreography. Neil Simon* comes
out with a another new play, The Good Doctor*. The playwright, Jean-Claude van Italie*,
(best known for his 60s work with the Open Theatre*) comes out with his first new work
since 1968, Nightwalk*.
In France, Peter Brook*'s group of international performers (the International Center for
Theatre Research* in Paris, bunch) have been getting ready for 15 months to start their tour of
Africa. They are doing improvisational work and go to some 34 different audiences in remote
African villages. The point of this is to let the performance be molded by the audience instead
of starting with specific expectations and theatrical conventions. The performers learn a lot
about what doesn't work, and something about how to communicate honestly with an
audience.
1974
Society
The terrorism in Northern Ireland spreads to England where the Tower of London and the
Houses of Parliament are bombed. Cyprus is in trouble again as Greek-led Cypriots overthrow
the government and Turkish forces invade the island and take over much of it. India becomes
the sixth nation to explode a nuclear device and Great Britain, China and France conduct
nuclear tests. In Argentina, the president, Juan Pern*, dies and his wife, Mara Estela
Martnez de Pern* succeeds him.
Natural disasters continue with the start of drought-induced famine threatening millions in
Africa [this situation will continue with varying severity throughout the rest of the century]. In
Bangladesh (which is hardly above sea level) floods kill at least 2,500. In India there is a
terrible small-pox epidemic that kills between 10,000 and 20,000. Other man-made disasters
include a fire that sweeps through a high-rise bank building in San Paolo, Brazil, killing 170
and a Turkish jetliner that crashes near Paris killing 345.
On the productive side, workmen begin clearing the debris out of the Suez Canal which has
been closed since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The U.S. and East Germany establish formal
diplomatic relations. In the Western hemisphere several former colonies become independent
states, Portuguese Guinea becomes Guinea-Bissau and the British colony of Grenada is now
just Grenada. In Portugal there is a bloodless coup in which the military throws out the
dictatorship and begins democratic reforms. The U.S. Secretary of State, Kissinger*,
persuades Syria and Israel to agree to a cease-fire on the Golan heights. [This spot will
continue to be a tinder box.] The OPEC oil embargo against the United States ends in March
On the silly side, "streaking" becomes a popular fad in the U.S.
There is worldwide inflation, the cost of everything begins to soar and economic growth
slows down to near zero.
In the United States the Watergate Affair* grinds on. Several former White House aides are
convicted and sentenced, the tapes business goes from bad to worse and the House Judiciary
Committee recommends three articles of impeachment for the full House consideration. On
the 9th of August Nixon* resigns and Gerald Ford* becomes the 38th president. Nelson
Rockefeller* is nominated to be vice president. Gerald Ford* (1974-1977) pardons Nixon* for
any criminal offenses that may have been committed while he was in office (this raises a big
stink) and grants a limited amnesty to draft evaders (like all those who went north to Canada)
and military deserters. The heiress, Patty Hearst*, is kidnapped and later announces she has
decided to join her captors (the Symbionese Liberation Army). The gasoline shortage is a big
inconvenience through the winter.
Theatre
In the United States, the women's theatre movement is progressing. This year a group called
At the Foot of the Mountain* (based in Minneapolis, Minnesota) starts up. Its mission is to
"create and produce plays, community events and rituals which spring from the lives of
women." Martha Boesing* is the theatre's playwright and sort-of artistic director. The plays
are created by the group based on their own lives and deal with their own issues. The issues
(rape, madness, war, etc.) are always approached on a personal level. The performances
develop a theatrical ritual that includes moments when the audience can add their own
experiences. For example, in The Story of a Mother* (1977,) the audience is lead to see the
world as their mother saw it. They are then asked to participate by speaking in their mother's
voices by completing lines like "I always said..." The audience members are encouraged to
speak voluntarily, which makes each performance very different. At the end of the evening
there is a sharing of bread and each audience and cast member introduces herself by her name
and as the daughter of her mother ("I am Jane, daughter of Alice."). The Afro-American
experience is reflected in a theatrical work honoring the beauty of black women this year in
the popular for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf...* by
Ntozake Shange*.
In Chicago, David Mamet* comes out with another bizarre realism play, Sexual Perversity in
Chicago*. It's becoming noticeable that the theatrical use of sexually explicit language and the
staging of events of mindless violence (theft, murder and rape) reflect current American life.
A different view of American life is seen in Neil Simon*'s new play, God's Favorite*.
1975
Society
This year international violence runs to kidnappings by leftists, radicals and terrorists in
Argentina, West Germany, Somalia, Tanzania, Italy and other countries. There is a
communist take-over in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge and the U.S. Embassy closes. The
Communist-led Pathet Lao takes over in Laos. Communist forces overrun South Viet Nam
and the U.S. is busy evacuating troops, civilians and refugees. This ends two decades of
military involvement in this area. There is a big refugee aid and resettlement in the U.S.
Violence is the rule of the day in Lebanon as bloody fighting between rightist Christians and
Leftist Moslems breaks out in Beirut. There are two assassination attempts made on President
Ford* in California. The problems between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus leads to the U.S.
cutting off aid to Turkey and a separate Turkish state in northern Cyprus. There is fierce
fighting between Ethiopian troops and guerrillas who want to secede in the province of
Eritrea. Forty Arab nations meet in Saudi Arabia and vote to expel Israel from the United
Nations. Nothing comes of it. The last of the European fascist dictators dies, Generalissimo
Francisco Franco*. He is succeeded by a Bourbn Prince who is sworn in as King Juan Carlos
I, the first Spanish king in 44 years. He will turn Spain toward democracy.
Nature is pretty violent as an earthquake destroys the Great Temples of Pagan in Burma. The
volcano, Mauna Loa, erupts in Hawaii for the first time since 1950. Man-made disasters
include America's worst domestic airlines crash when an Eastern Airlines jet crashes at New
York's Kennedy International Airport killing 113. London has its worst subway crash with 41
dead and over 90 injured. An American Air Force jet crashes after take-off from Saigon,
killing 243 Viet Namese orphans.
There is the International Woman's Year World Conference in Mexico City. They adopt a 10year plan to improve the status of women. Portugal is busy granting independence to its
former African colonies (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tom and Principe,) the
Netherlands lets go of Surinam and the French free the Comoro Islands.
In the United States a whole bunch of people from the Nixon* administration are convicted
and sentenced. American involvement in Viet Nam is officially declared at an end on the 23rd
of April. On the 30th of April South Viet Nam surrenders to the Communists and the U.S.
evacuation of refugees ends. There will, of course, be a continuing stream of refugees by land
and sea (the "boat people"). The residents of the northern Mariana Islands vote to become
American citizens and make their islands a commonwealth of the U.S. [This is the first
territory acquired by the U.S. since 1925.] The unemployment rate reaches the highest rate
since 1941, 9.2%. The first Women's Bank opens in New York City. Patty Hearst* is captured
after 19 months in hiding with the Symbionese Liberation Army (who kidnapped her).
Theatre
In the United States the Pulitzer* prize this year goes to Edward Albee* for his new play,
Seascape*. The popular movie, Jaws*, carries natural disaster into the entertainment realm.
David Mamet* continues his successful career, this year he writes American Buffalo*, which
has its world premier in Chicago. This year the American director, Joanne Akalatis*, begins
associating the innovative theatre group, Mabou Mines*, with performances at the New York
Shakespeare Festival*'s Public Theatre*. They are into communal creation* of original
pieces, often based on non-theatrical sources and forms that are combined in unusual ways
(stand-up comedy, political documents, diaries, etc.). She will continue to work with this
group into 1987. The dance sensation, A Chorus Line* (by Michael Bennett*,) opens this
year, as does Chicago* (book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse*, music by John Kander*.) The
Wiz * also opens, providing a very successful theatrical alternative to the Judy Garland movie
of 1939 with a book by William F. Brown*, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls*. This one
will become a very popular movie with an Afro-Ameican, urban twist.
1976
Society
The violence this year is directed against Israel and seven pro-Palestinian hijackers take an
Air France jetliner to the Entebbe Airport in the capital of Uganda. Israeli airborne
commandos rescue 103 hostages and 31 people die in the raid. [This will be one of the first
real-life events to be immediately turned into a movie and a television drama, setting a trend
that will mushroom in the entertainment field.] Lebanon continues to be a battleground for
rival forces, including Syrian troops, Lebanese Christians, Palestinian guerrillas and Lebanese
Moslems. In Angola there is a bloody civil war and more than 9,000 refugees flee into
Namibia. In China, Mao Tse-Tung* dies and there is a power struggle in which his widow
and three other counterrevolutionaries (the "Gang of Four") attempt a coup that is crushed.
East Germany is getting stricter about clamping down on emigration, dissidents and
discontent.
Natural disasters this year are earthquakes in northeastern Italy, Peking and Tientsin in China,
Mindanao in the Philippines, eastern Turkey, Bali and in Guatemala (where more than 25,000
are killed and one-fourth of the country's population is made homeless). All told, over
780,000 die in these quakes. Britain has its worst drought on record. Man-made disasters
include aviation's worst midair collision which takes place over Yugoslavia as two airliners
collide killing 176. In the U.S. a mysterious disease kills 29 people and strikes down another
151 at a state American Legion convention in Philadelphia. This will be known as
"Legionnaires' disease."
North and South Viet Nam are officially united into one country after 22 years, now called the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In Argentina, Mara Estela Martnez de Pern*, the President,
is overthrown by a military junta. Spain finally gives up her colonial possessions in the
Spanish Sahara. Morocco and Mauritania divide it between them, despite Sahara nationalists
declaration of independence.
In the United States the all-male tradition at military academies is broken and 155 women are
admitted to the Air Force Academy. It is election year and President Ford* is busy debating
Jimmy Carter* three times on television. Science finally comes up with a functional synthetic
gene. This is a real breakthrough and will open all sorts of possibilities in medicine,
agriculture and who knows what else. In November Jimmy Carter* wins the election. He will
become the 39th president (1977-81).
Theatre
In the United States - Michael Bennett*'s musical, A Chorus Line*, takes the Pulitzer Prize*
in drama and the Tony Award. [Actually the musical's credits include James Kirkwood*,
Nicholas Dante*, Marvin Hamlisch* and Edward Kleban* but it's awkward to list them all.]
Stephen Sondheim*'s Pacific Overtures* is immensely popular this year. Interestingly
enough, that Off-Broadway musical,Godspell* with the book by John-Michael Tebelak* and
the music and lyrics S. Schwartz*, has been running ever since it opened, and this year it
moves to Broadway for another year or so's run. The feminist theatre group, At the Foot of the
Mountain*, has become totally a women's collective. This year they have their first allwoman season in which the powerful company-created work, Raped*, sets the performance
and subject style of the group. The publishing industry is finally giving attention to plays
written by feminists. This year Clare Coss*'s The Daughters Cycle Trilogy:* Daughters*,
Sister/Sister*, Electra Speaks* appears in published form. Neil Simon* comes out with a
another new play, California Suite*. The new play by Sam Shepard* this year is Curse of the
Starving Class*.
Enid Bagnold* comes out with A Matter of Gravity*.
The big film this year, All the President's Men* reflects American preoccupation with the
Watergate Affair*.
In London the National Theatre of Great Britain* opens its new building. This includes three
separate theatres, the major one is the Olivier (named, of course for Laurence Olivier*), with
an open stage with steeply raked seating for 1,100 persons. There are also a 900-seat
proscenium theatre, the Lyttelton* , and a 400-seat experimental theatre, the Cottesloe*. The
complex is beside the river Thames across from central London.
1977
Society
This year's violence includes the expansion of Angola's fighting into neighboring territories,
threatening Zaire. South Moluccan (an Indonesian group seeking freedom for their homeland)
guerrillas hijack a Dutch train and a school bus, taking 55 hostages. Dutch armed forces storm
them and two hostages and six kidnappers are killed. The international trend is moving toward
training special units to deal with terrorists.
The world's worst aviation disaster involves a runway crash of a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Boeing 747 into a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747 on the Canary Island of
Tenerife. More than 570 people are killed. A massive blackout in New York City leads to
extensive looting, vandalism and other criminal activity with some 3,700 people arrested and
over 500 fires. It also leads to an increased rate of births nine months later. In New York there
is an arrest in the "Son of Sam" murder case (6 killed, seven wounded in a 12 month period).
This, too, will become subject matter for film and TV "docudramas". The International
Monetary Fund reports that (due to growing unemployment and subnormal growth) the state
of the world's economy is "unsatisfactory".
Natural disasters include volcanic eruptions in Japan, Italy and Hawaii, a cyclone that kills
20,000 and leaves two million homeless in India, devastating earthquake in northwestern
Argentina and typhoons in Taiwan and the northern Philippines.
On the "good news" side, Spain holds the first free elections since 1936 and over 80 percent
of the electorate votes. A former French territory becomes the Independent Republic of
Djibouti.
In the United States the new president, Jimmy Carter* (1977-81,) takes office and grants a
pardon to almost all draft evaders of the Viet Nam era. He makes a valiant stab at getting
Americans to decrease their dependence on foreign oil by conservation and creates a new
Department of Energy. Carter* signs a new Panama Canal treaty that will eventually return
control of the canal to Panama (by the year 2000,) and encourages peace negotiations between
Egypt and Israel. This year it becomes obvious that there has been a steady decline in the
Scholastic Aptitude tests of college-bound students ever since 1963.
Theatre
In the United States Elvis Presley* dies this year, but his reputation will only increase. The
mythic Star Wars* is far and away the most popular film this year, but Network* (by the onetime playwright, turned TV and film script writer, Paddy Chayefsky)* brings Oscars to the
actors. Rocky* is also popular and will attract a growing cult following (at least four sequels
will be made). The television dramatization of Roots* (from the novel by Alex Haley) comes
out this year, marking a surge in Afro-American pride and theatrical employment, it is the big
event of the year. Annie* (music by Charles Strouse* and book by Thomas Meehan, based on
the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie") wins the best musical awards from the Tony and the
New York Drama Critics. D. L. Coburn* writes The Gin Game* and Hume Cronyn and his
wife Jessica Tandy do an outstanding job bringing this fascinating tale of relationships
between the elderly to vibrant life. Fortunately it is also filmed, making it more widely
available. It will get the 1978 Pulitzer* prize.
Chicagoan David Mamet* (founder and resident playwright of the St. Nicholas Theatre
Company) has his Broadway debut with American Buffalo* which moves into the New York
professional, commercial theatre district this year. It will win the New York Drama Critics
award for the best American play. He will also come out with four other plays this year, A
Life in the Theatre*, The Water Engine*, Reunion*, and The Woods*. The Pulitzer Prize*
this year goes to The Shadow Box* by Michael Cristofer*. Set in a hospice, the play is a
stunning study of dying and its effect on friends, lovers and relatives.
Neil Simon* is moving beyond just comedy and this year comes out with Chapter Two*,
dealing with personal uncertainty and social pressures as a widower and a divorcee come
together. The publishing of feminist works continues. This year Martha Boesing*'s The Story
of a Mother* is published, as is Mari Irene Forns*' Fefu and Her Friends *
In Britain, by this year, the RSC* (Royal Shakespeare Company*,) has expanded their
activities to include 8 productions in Stratford, 11 at the Aldwych Theatre*, 14 at the smaller
theatres, a season in Newcastle, two commercial productions in London's West End (the
theatre district) and two television contracts. Even with all this successful activity, the
company is very heavily dependent on government subsidy for its health and well being.
1978
Society
Violence is brewing in Iran where the Shah imposes martial rule to quiet the violent antigovernment demonstrations, the Iranian oil industry is shut down by striking workers and the
self-exiled (he's in Paris) Moslem leader, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini*, calls for labor strife
to topple the Shah. There is continuing strife and warfare in African Zaire where Belgian and
French troops fly in to help rescue more than 2,500 Europeans trapped by the fighting. Yemen
is having violent political troubles. Their president is assassinated and in South Yemen the
president is deposed and executed. There is unrest and heavy fighting. In Lebanon, the Arab
peacekeeping force clashes with Christian militia forces leaving at least 200 dead and 500
wounded. Nicaragua is increasingly violent as the Sandinista Liberation Front leads antigovernment riots and takes hundreds of hostages. There is growing unrest in Iran where the
Shah declares martial law in twelve major cities where political and religious demonstrators
are filling the streets. Later he puts the whole country under military rule when the Premier
and his civilian cabinet resigns. Turkey is also having problems with street fighting over
political and religious issues. They declare martial law in Istanbul and 12 other cities. In
Guyana (South America,) members of a California based cult, the Peoples Temple, kill U.S.
Representative Leo J. Ryan and four other Americans. The cult leader, Jim Jones, and 916
members of his group then engage in mutual murder-suicide. This sort of religious extremism
will continue to grow, led by autocratic, dictatorial fanatics who believe themselves divinely
endowed. The 200th coup in Bolivia's 158-year history of independent statehood is
engineered by Army officers and a military junta takes control of Honduras. Striking unions
shut down newspapers for months in New York and London. Things have deteriorate so much
in Lebanon that the UN sends in a 4,000-man peacekeeping force. Canada is having
increasing problems with ethnic and linguistic groups, but it does not lead to violence. They
are trying to get a new national constitution but they can't agree on it yet. Afganistan is in
deep trouble. There is a bloody coup overthrowing the government and slaughtering the
president, his family, and key ministers in the presidential palace. The coup is led by Soviettrained military officers who turn over power to a leftist civilian group regarded by the
Afganistans as communist. Everybody thinks this coup is masterminded by the Soviets, but
there's no evidence. This will go from bad to worse.
Disasters include India's worst air crash, killing 213. The worst midair crash in the U.S. kills
144 over San Diego. The super tanker the "Amoco Cadiz" breaks apart and oil blackens more
than 110 miles of France's Brittany coastline. Natural disasters include earthquakes in Greece,
Japan, Mexico, Iran and central Europe. The ones in Iran are particularly severe, killing at
least 25,000 people. There is severe drought in eastern Australia. In the United States there is
a January "killer-blizzard" in the Midwestern states, with winds up to 100 mph and 31 inches
of snow. More than 100 people are killed and the economy is disrupted.
On the plus side, Peru has its first election since military rule took over in 1968. The Solomon
Islands become independent of Great Britain. The first "test-tube baby" (grown from an egg
fertilized in the laboratory) is born in Lancashire, England. This will become a popular way to
cope with various forms of infertility. Mexico discovers a whole basin of oil. This is good
news since OPEC announces a hefty increase in the price of oil next year.
In the United States the Camp David summit brings Egypt and Israel together in peace
negotiations and they complete final preparations for a peace treaty between the two
countries. In this decade of the Women's Movement, 100,000 people demonstrate in
Washington to support an extension for ratification of the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment).
They get the extension, but not enough states will ratify the amendment and it will die. In San
Francisco the mayor and a city supervisor are assassinated inside city hall. California is also
in the grip of a tax-payer revolt as Proposition 13 passes, cutting property taxes. Meanwhile,
Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first American city to default since the great depression.
Theatre
In Britain the biggest event in the popular theatre is the musical Evita* by Tim Rice* and
Andrew Lloyd Webber*, directed by that master of musicals, Harold Prince*.
In the United States, Arthur Kopit* writes Wings* and Sam Shepard*'s The Buried Child* (it
wins the Pulitzer*) and The Curse of the Starving Class* make their appearance OffBroadway* at the Trinity Theatre of Providence. Also Off-Broadway* is On Golden Pond*
by Ernest Thompson*, another play dealing with older people and how they adjust to life and
impending death. A popular murder mystery, Deathtrap*, by Ira Levin* is on Broadway. The
eternal interest in relations between sons and fathers is evident in the Tony winning Da* by
Hugh Leonard*, an Irish work that starts out at the Hudson Guild Theatre and then moves to
Broadway. Langford Wilson*'s work deals with difficult social and political issues. This year
he confronts how anti-war activists come to terms with middle age and middle-class life in
The Fifth of July*. Neil Simon* comes out with a another new play, They're Playing Our
Song*. The first Hispanic work to reach Broadway comes this year in Teatro Campesino* 's
organizer, Luis Valdez*'s play, Zoot Suit*. The Chicagoan David Mamet* becomes Associate
Artistic Director and resident playwright at the Goodman* Theatre in Chicago.
1979
Society
Violence and terrorism is still going strong. The exiled religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini*
returns to Iran from France in a bid to seize government power and found an Islamic state.
Since the Shah left Iran for a "vacation" abroad, this rebellion is successful and a national
referendum approves the formation of an Islamic republic on April 1st. The republic
celebrates by executing a number of former government officials. In November the
provisional revolutionary government dissolves and concedes governmental power to the
Ayatollah Khomeini*. The IRA (Irish Republican Army) takes responsibility for setting off a
a bomb that kills the Earl of Mountbattan (cousin of the Queen) while he is fishing off the
Irish coast. In El Salvador the military government is overthrown by a coup. The president of
South Korea is fatally shot. In Saudi Arabia, the great mosque of Mecca is occupied by
religious extremists in November and it takes a week of fighting by Saudi troops to end it.
There is great damage to the Saudi government's prestige. A side effect occurs in Pakistan
where a false rumor that the U.S. and Israel were involved in the mosque takeover leads to
hundreds of Pakistanis storming and partly burning the U.S. embassy. In Africa there is
continuing warfare between Tanzania and Uganda. The U.S. ambassador to Afganistan is
abducted and shot to death by Muslim terrorists in Kabul. China launches a massive invasion
of Viet Nam to retaliate their incursion into Cambodia and then withdraws next month.
Trouble is brewing in the newly independent island of Grenada with a bloodless coup in
March and the suspension of the country's constitution. In the U.S., "police brutality" is
becoming a subject of concern. In Philadelphia the U.S. Justice Department files a civil rights
suit against the city, its mayor, high-ranking police and city officials charging widespread and
severe police brutality.
Natural disasters include hurricane David, which leaves more than 1,100 dead and billions in
damages, particularly in the Dominican Republic. Man-made disasters include the crash of an
American Airlines DC-10, which loses an engine shortly after takeoff from O'Hare
International Airport. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) grounds all DC-10 airliners
until July.
In Afghanistan the pro-Communist Revolutionary Council names a prime minister. This

doesn't last very long and in December a coup ousts (and executes) the president. The coup
appears to be planned and carried out by the USSR and substantial numbers of Soviet troops
are reported to be crossing into Afghanistan. This business will get a lot nastier. OPEC
announces a two-year oil pricing plan which raises the aggregate price fifty percent this year.
The Nicaraguan Sandinista junta takes control after seven weeks of open civil war.
On the productive side, North and South Yemen sign a provisional agreement ending
hostilities and uniting them both under one government. After five and one-half years, the
GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) document is signed and international tariffs
will be reduced by an average of one-third and other obstacles to world trade will be
overcome. Greece becomes the tenth member of the EEC (European Economic Community)
when it signs a treaty with other members of the Common Market. The newly expanded
European Parliament has its first elections. The Gilbert Islands become the independent
republic of Kirbati.
In the United States, on March 28 radioactive steam is accidentally released from the nuclear
power station at Three Mile Island on the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The "incident" makes headlines all over the world. It has a profound effect on the future of
nuclear power in the U.S. and throughout the world. The key issue of safety looms even larger
than before. Demonstrations against the use of nuclear power are showing up, 65,000 march
from the Capitol to the White House in May. Long lines and higher prices at the gas pump are
becoming common occurrences. California starts gasoline rationing in nine counties. The U.S.
severs military ties with Nicaragua after their president rejects mediation of civil disorders.
The Department of Education becomes a cabinet level agency.
Iranian militant students seize the American embassy in Tehran, looting, burning and taking
the staff of 62 hostage. President Carter* orders deportation of Iranian students who are found
to be in the country illegally. In December, the International Court of Justice rules that Iran
must immediately release the hostages and the UN Security Council adopts a resolution
demanding release of hostages. National outrage is followed by frustration and the yellow
ribbon becomes the national symbol for "let my people go." A number of network news
shows are launched to cover the daily happenings (notably the ABC Nightline. The dilemma
drags on and strongly influences the political process as the presidential election is tainted
with the hostage crisis. President Jimmy Carter* is challenged by the Conservative
Republicans choice, Ronald Reagan* who wins the November race. It will become a matter of
political controversy that the release of hostages is obtained on inauguration day.
This year Margaret Thatcher* becomes the first woman Prime Minister of Great Britain and
Jane Byrne* becomes the first woman to be elected mayor of Chicago.
Theatre
In France they produce Audience* and Private View*, two plays by the Czech dramatist,
Vaclav Havel*, who is in prison for his political views.
In the United States, it is becoming obvious that most of the new "straight" plays (nonmusicals) are arriving on Broadway after being seen by audiences in the modest surroundings
of regional theatre or off (and off-off) Broadway*. The Elephant Man*, by Bernard
Pomerance*, has been showing in London with little notice. This year it is performed off-off-
Broadway* and becomes an American favorite, winning the Tony and the Drama Critics
Circle awards. Arthur Kopit* Wings* comes to New York from its last year's production at
the Yale Repertory Theatre.* The off-off-Broadway* success of On Golden Pond* by Ernest
Thompson* leads to Broadway openings this year. Mark Medoff*'s Children of a Lesser
God* opens this year and explores the experience and pride of the deaf community. Langford
Wilson* is rapidly becoming one of the more important playwrights of this period. This year
he comes out with another of his three plays about the Tally family in Missouri. This one is
Tally's Folly*. Feminist theatre is represented on Broadway this year by Beth Henley*'s play,
Crimes of the Heart*. This story of three women in traditional roles in a southern town will
become very popular. Musicals this year are varied. The English horror story, Sweeney Todd*
with book by Hugh Wheeler*, and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim*, is not a comedy
(really grisly, actually) and offers nothing in the way of a song you might go out humming.
The most popular, traditional, musical of the year is The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas*,
with book by Larry L. King* and Peter Masterson*, and music and lyrics by Carol Hall*. This
year the musical, Grease* , is currently the longest running show on Broadway with 3,243
performances. Also, this year the British Evita* by Tim Rice* and Andrew Lloyd Webber*
comes to New York.
The actor, Spalding Gray*, leaves the avant-garde theatre group, The Wooster Group*, this
year to begin a career as a monologue artist (and what is rapidly becoming known as a
"performance" artist). This business of doing a one person show is becoming very popular.
Unlike most of the other solo performers, Gray* plays himself instead of some other
character. This puts him in the same acting and writing ballpark as the women's theatre, the
international African tour and the various collective groups.
In Britain, the RSC* (Royal Shakespeare Company*) director, Trevor Nunn* is beginning
work on a really big project. He is taking Charles Dickens' novel, Nicholas Nickleby*, and
reworking it into a theatre piece. This will turn into what some will call the theatre event of
the century. Nunn* and his co-director, John Caird*, will use 48 actors, 15 musicians, and
dozens of stage crew. For the first three months the directors recreate and discuss moments
from the novel, shifting actors from role to role. Then they decide to do the whole novel,
rather than highlights from it. This means that the show will run 8 hours and have hundreds of
characters. The enormous number of locales needed helps to determine the style of the
production where the actors narrate and "create" the locale by "building" each scene from
minimal props which they move on stage themselves. As the directors and actors invent and
test situations from the book, the writer, David Edgar*, transcribes and rewrites the scenes,
give them back to the actors for reworking, and writes them again. This process could go on
for ages, but finally the directors cast the show (with a number of actors playing many parts)
and settle on the final set of scenes and interpretations. At this point the designer, John
Napier*, begins to redesign the entire auditorium where the play will be done because the
characters will use the whole theatre and interact with the audience before the show and
during intermission.
The 8 hour production will be seen in two parts, either on consecutive evenings, or, in a
matinee and evening performances with a dinner break. The critics are a little skeptical of the
show at first, but it soon becomes popular and the entire run sells out. It will be revived in
1981 and have a three month run in New York. Also, the National Theatre is putting on Peter
Shaffer*'s Amadeus* which will go on to international production and success as a film.
Afterword
The decade of the 70s ends with Americans held hostage half a world away. There is frequent
political violence in many places and it seems to be on the increase.
Theatre is busy exploring all kinds of alternative directions and moving the musical to a new
and more complex level. There is no clear artistic movement or direction, only a lot of very
different experiments. Regional theatre is booming.
go to Chapter 22
or go to Home
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO The 80s

Alternative Theatre comes of Age
Introduction
The eighties are a time of increasing terrorism, expanding communication, particularly by
satellite, and constant movement of peoples to places of greater economic opportunity. Since
the 1979 overthrow of the Shah in Iran, terrorism is rapidly becoming the political tactic of
choice. The Irish, of course, have been using terrorism on the British for many years, but their
attacks are confined to England. The various Arab groups (by the end of the decade, the
Pentagon will list 52 terrorist groups of various extractions) will engage in a number of
spectacular attacks in the first five years of this decade. After that they will diminish slightly.
But, by 1985 the number of terrorist incidents will rise to 700 a year. By 1988 it will be over
1000. Obviously this terrorism affects society. People are feeling less and less personally safe.
Perhaps this is part of what impells these years into what will become known as the "greed
decade."
In general, theatre pieces reflect disquiet, anxiety, disillusionment and the darker side of the
human condition. However, there are other voices coming to the forefront. Theatre reflects a
changing and diverse America. To the historic and fertile Yiddish Theatre are now added the
mature plays and productions of the Feminist movement, the Negro Ensemble, the AsianAmericans and the Chicano. Later in this decade, the gay community will begin to speak out
about their life experience, particularly as it relates to the new plague, AIDS*, and dying.
These various and very different perceptions of life reflect more reconciliation, understanding
and reconstruction as well as rage, anger and frustration with the attitudes of the mainstream
toward the "different."
World Events
On the international scene it is a time of terrorism and assassinations. The apparent (and often
quite real) threat to individual safety seems to be increasing.
The USSR's invasion of Afganistan (which took place last year) will occupy the entire decade
and cause enormous controversy both outside and inside the Soviet Union. The decade begins
with extreme militarism and a hard line and ends with glastnost and perestroika.
In Poland the labor union Solidarity* is founded by Lech Walsea* in 1980. This democratic
movement will bob up and down like a yo-yo throughout the decade, ending in 1989 with the
first free national election since the Communist takeover.
In the United States we are into what will be called Reagan*'s "Voodoo economics." This
includes the longest economic boom in US history and the largest budget, deregulation and
tax cuts. The whole economic picture looks gorgeous and it is not until the end of the decade
that the real economic state of affairs becomes appallingly clear. The yearly national debt
(how much more we spent than we took in) was $40,162 millions in 1979. By 1986 this rises
to $221,140 millions. The total federal debt starts out in 1979 as $826.5 billions and climbs to
$2,857.4 billions. That means that the 1979 percentage of federal outlay for the debt is 11.9
percent while in ten years it will eat up 21 percent. The changes in the economic climate are
evident by the rise in bankruptcy filings (from 278 a year in 1980 to 643 in 1989) and bank
failures (10 in 1980 to 207 in 1989).
This will also be the decade of AIDS*, unemployment, and junk bonds [that refers to bonds
issued to raise money for buy-outs, not backed by real assets, etc.]. There continues to be
rising crime rate of rape, domestic violence, gang warfare, irrational and seemingly random
shootings and bizarre cases of multiple murder.
Theatre Events
Nicholas Nickleby* has become an international success and Sweeney Todd* is still playing
and also becoming internationally popular. Both will be video taped and seen by even more
people. Peter Brook* will spend much of the decade with his international troupe, making a
production of the Mahabarata*. English-speaking musicals are dominated by the works of
Sondheim* and Andrew Lloyd Webber*. As personal safety becomes more problematic the
world appears to be drawing closer to Harold Pinter*'s world where the world itself is
threatening, frightening and unknowable. Traditional values don't seem to lead to positive
results and the line between reality and illusion disappears. The distinction between a
television drama, a docudrama, a documentary and a newscast is almost impossible to
ascertain. Postmodernism* is the current artistic critical term for much of what is going on.
Nowhere is this term more clearly applied than the new art form, music videos. Music
Television (MTV*) will celebrate its first broadcast on cable networks in 1981.
1980
Society
Natural disasters this year include earthquakes in northwestern Algeria (4,500 dead) and in
southern Italy (4,800), floods on Southern California and Arizona (26 dead) and hurricane
Allen which hits the Caribbean and Texas (272 dead).
Terrorism and man-made disasters include political assassinations of the Liberian President
(killed in a military coup) and the former Nicaraguan President (Anastasio Somoza) shot
(along with two others) in Paraguay. In the US, a civil rights leader (Vernon Jordan Jr.) is
shot, not fatally, in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Internationally things are very strained. The Soviet Army is busy supporting one side in the
Afganistan civil war and the rest of the world tends to regard this as an invasion. The United
States reacts and President Jimmy Carter* slaps an embargo on grain and high technology
headed for the USSR. He also gets the US Olympic Committee to vote not to attend the
Moscow Summer Olympics. The hostage business in Iran [remember those American
Embassy hostages in Teheran?] is still incredibly frustrating and a rescue attempt ends in
disaster with eight Americans killed.
In the Middle East things are getting worse. The Iranian revolution ends in a strong anti-US
position and Iran gets into a fighting war with Iraq (it starts in September and won't end until
1988). They are contesting who owns the Shatt al-Arab waterway and the disagreement will
kill millions before they quit. This will be known as the Iran-Iraq War*, or the Gulf War,
1980-88. Libya's fostering and protecting of terrorists will make everybody else mad. Israel
will have increasingly difficult disputes with the PLO (Palestine Liberation Army) and
various Arab neighbors throughout the decade.
In Central America the Nicaraguan leftist government (the Sandanista National Liberation
Front) which just seized power through a long civil war is busy helping leftist guerrillas in
neighboring El Salvador. The Archbishop Oscar Romero is assassinated in March and about
4,000 civilians are killed in this mess. The United States really objects to leftist activity and
backs the contras (those who are against the leftists). The CIA begins to do some very illegal
stuff to counter the leftists in Central America.
Africa is a real disaster this decade. The areas of desert spread into what had been reasonably
fertile land. This desertification, along with the world economic recession, sets the stage for
disaster. Compounding factors like the terrific debt these 61 new nations owe to overseas
creditors, political instability, sky-rocketing populations, all contribute to disastrous decline in
African economies.
In China they are busy pursuing great changes in their political and economic affairs. Ties to
the industrialized world in commercial and technological areas are increased and the role of
market forces become increasingly important. All this stimulates economic development in
the urban areas. The "Gang of Four*" (those who are responsible for the excesses of the
"cultural revolution" of 1966-69) are tried this year and will be sentenced next year.
Japan is beginning a decade of trade imbalances which favor this industrious island country.
The Japanese business system of governmental subsidy and "dumping" products below cost
(especially semiconductors and computer memory chips) drives American firms to give up
manufacturing many electronic components and permits Japan to move toward a monopoly.
There is an unusual natural disaster in the United States. In May, a terrific volcanic eruption
takes place in Washington state as Mt. St. Helens explodes and spreads devastation over a
wide area. Over sixty people are killed and the economic losses are about $3 billion.
Meanwhile, human violence is getting progressively worse. In December, the former Beatle,
John Lennon, is shot and killed outside his New York City apartment building. This makes a
deep impression around the world. It's election time again and an ex-actor, ex-govenor of
California, Ronald Reagan*, carries the Republican party to an overwhelming victory.
Theatre
In Great Britain the RSC* production of Trevor Nunn*'s The Life and Adventures of Nicholas
Nickleby* is packing in audiences. The unending trials and tribulations of the honest, upright
Nicholas, his widowed mother and innocent sister, in the den of vice, corruption and iniquity
of Dicken's* nineteenth century London seems to strike a responsive chord in the
contemporary public mind. The appeal of forthright and unequivocal values steadfastly
pursued in the face of certain failure, really rings a bell.
In the United States, the Pulitzer* Prize play this year is Talley's Folly* by Langston
Hughes*. The musical of the year is Evita*, drawn from the real life character of Eva Peron.
The charismatic first wife of the Argentine president makes a perfect image for the 80s. Her
power-hungry rise and insatiable drive to be seen as a parton saint of the poor is a
recognizable icon of this decade of greed.
1981
Society
Natural disasters this year include floods in China (1,850 dead), Typhoon Irma makes a mess
of Luzon Island and the Philippines
Violence continues. In March there is an assassination attempt on the President in which
Reagan*, his press secretary, Jim Brady,* a Secret Service agent (Timothy J. McCarthy) and a
Washington, D.C. policeman (Thomas Delahanty) are shot and seriously wounded. Reagan*
is not as seriously injured as the others and recovers quickly. Brady* is permanently braindamaged and his wife will spear-head an effort to legislate gun-control. In May, while
speaking to the crowd in St. Peter's Square in Rome, the Pope (Pope John Paul II*) and two
bystanders are shot and wounded by an escaped Turkish murderer. In Atlanta, Georgia there
are the multiple murders of black teenagers.
In France they elect their first socialist president, Francois Mitterand*.
In the United States, Ronald Reagan* (1981-1989) takes the Presidential oath of office at the
age of 73. Much will be made of the fact that minutes after he takes office the 52 Americans,
held hostage in Iran for the past 444 days, are released. They are flown to freedom after an
agreement is made returning $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Landmark events occur. The world's first re-useable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Columbia,
goes into space for its first successful mission. The first woman-appointee to the Supreme
Court, Sandra Day O'Connor*, takes her place as a Justice.
Reagan*'s tax-cut (the largest in US history) passes Congress. When Federal Air Traffic
controllers pull an illegal strike (federal employees can't strike) and their union rejects the
government's final offer, Reagan* fires all those who refuse to return to work. This will rankle
labor relations for more than the next decade.
AIDS* - This year in the San Francisco area, a small cluster of cases of a very rare
oportunistic pneumonia (caused by the virus Pneumocystis carinii) turn up. These soon get
correlated with cases of another rare opportunistic disease called Kaposi's sarcoma (a kind of
cancer.) Both these diseases are usually seen only in people who have a suppressed immune
system. The victims of these diseases are all young, male and homosexual. The hunt is on to
discover the cause (pathogen) of this condition of immunosuppression which leads to these
cases of opportunistic diseases.
Theatre
In the United States, the Pulitzer* Prize play this year is one of the fruits of the feminist
theatre, Beth Henley*'s Crimes of the Heart*. The experience of the world from a woman's
point of view is becoming more generally accecptable. While the theatre leads the way,
television and film are making more works, more widely available. The kinds of experiences
presented by the feminist theatre are as varied as human beings are varied. The musicals this
year reflect the fascination with the female experience on a simpler, more popular level.
These include Annie* and Woman of the Year*. The fascination with the honest, upright,
Nicholas persists and there is a three month revived run of Nicholas Nickleby* in New York
City.
1982
Society
Natural disasters this year include wide spread wet weather that brings floods to Lima, Peru
(600 dead), Guangdong, China (430), Southern Connecticut (12), El Salvador and Guatemala
(1.300), Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas (22). Meanwhile there are earthquakes in North
Yemen (2,800 dead).
Terrorism continues. In Beirut, Lebanon, in October, a Marine headquarters housing sailors
and Marines is blown up killing 241. These Americans are part of a multinational peacekeeping force. A few minutes later a French paratroop barracks is also exploded, killing 58.
The Lebanese president-elect is killed by a bomb-blast in east Beirut. The whole Lebanese
situation seems hopeless at this point. Another attempt is made on the life of the Pope in
Fatima, Portugal but it is foiled by guards. In June, Arab terrorists shoot, and seriously
wound, Israel's ambassador to Britain in London.
In the far South Atlantic, Argentina sends out her military and takes over the Falkland
Islands* which are a British Crown Colony. These small specks in a rather frigid and isolated
part of the ocean are devoted to sheep-raising. They have been ruled by the British and
disputed by Argentina (the closest continental country) since the 1830s. The Brits are highly
incensed and send off a military expedition to retake their property. A short war ensues and
the islands are again all British.
In Europe there are some signs of a slight thaw in the cold war. The former leader of the
Polish union, Solidarity*, Lech Walsea*, is released from interment.
In the Soviet Union the hard-line leader Brezhnev dies.
In the United States, economic things don't look too good. November figures reveal the
highest unemployment rate since 1940. 10.8 percent of the work force (over 11 million
people) are unemployed. The Equal Rights Amendment is finally defeated after a ten-year
struggle for ratification. Reagan* lifts the US embargo on oil and gas equipment to the USSR.
The first permanent artificial heart (designed by Dr. Robert Jarvis) implant takes place in Salt
Lake City, Utah.
We begin to see more and more protests against nuclear arms. In June hundreds of thousands
demonstrate in New York's Central Park.
Theatre
South African Athol Fugard* produces his Master Harold...and the Boys*, which will become
very popular.
In the United States, more and more groups are using the theatre as a forum in which they can
express their life experience and perceptions of society. The Pulitzer* Prize play this year is
one of the fruits of the Negro Ensemble,* A Soldier's Play*, by Charles Fuller*. It will go on
to be a popular film. The feminist theatre is becoming standard as 'night, Mother*, by Marsha
Norman* opens. The Broadway success of Harvey Fierstein*'s Torch Song Trilogy* increases
the focus of attention on gay lifestyle and the AIDS* crisis. United States*, the first full-scale
work of a performance artist, Laurie Anderson*, is created this year. Music, slides, visual and
audio effects are incorporated in the live performance. On the more conventional and popular
side there is the inevitable Neil Simon* hit. This one is called Brighton Beach Memoirs*. The
popular musical this year is another by Andrew Lloyd Webber*, Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat*. Off-Broadway the musical Little Shop of Horrors* (book and lyrics
by Howard Ashman,* based on the film by Roger Corman,* music by Alan Menken*) begins
what will be a very long run at the Orpheum Theatre.*
In Britain, that unconventional and always suprising playwright, Tom Stoppard*, takes an old
European play and turns it into On The Razzle*. [This is the same old play that Thornton
Wilder turned into The Merchant of Yonkers*, and then The Matchmaker* and then it became
the musical Hello, Dolly!*.] Stoppard* also continues his original work in The Real Thing*.
1983
Society
Natural disasters this year include terrific monsoon rains which kill some 900 people in India,
hurricane Alicia (kills 17) in southern Texas, earthquakes in southern Columbia (250 dead),
Japan (81) and eastern Turkey (1,300), floods and tidal waves inundate the California coast
(13), and Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee (15 dead).
Terrorism and political murder are popular this year. In Rangoon, Burma, four South Korean
cabinet ministers and fifteen others are killed by a bomb blast. In the Philippines the
prominent opposition leader, Benigno S. Aquino* is assassinated. This makes a lot of people
mad and there are big demonstrations calling for the resignation of Marcos*. This political
assassination will lead to a campaign by the widow, Corazon Aquino,* which will eventually
oust Marcos* (not merely from office, but force him into exile).
In the United States, the feminist movement takes pride as Sally Ride* becomes the first
American woman to go into space as an astronaut. There is a request from the Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States to do something about the Marxist government (that took over
Grenada in a coup in 1979). Together with token forces from six other Caribbean nations, US
forces invade Grenada. Hundreds of American citizens are evacuated safely. The Congress
insists on applying the War Powers Resolution requiring US troops to leave by December
24th. They restore democratic rule and leave.
AIDS* - This year the pathogen that seems to be causing the disease is identified as a
retrovirus which will become known as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV*). The disease
becomes known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS*). The current theory is that
the virus that causes this syndrome is a mutant of a virus that has been endemic (it's there all
the time) for years in some of the areas in central Africa. It seems to have been transmitted
from the African Green Monkey to humans. In Africa the AIDS* disease is hardly noticed
among all the other life-threatening diseases. Later it will be called "slims" and spread rapidly
through heterosexual contact among Africans in central Africa. It is assumed that the HIV
infection was carried to the Caribbean island country of Hati by Haitians who once lived in
central Africa. It seems to have initially spread to the United States through Haitian
immigrants, American homosexual males who vacationed in Haiti and through the insatiable
sexual activities of a Canadian airline attendant who was extremely active in the homosexual
communities throughout the range of his air routes. Much of the history of the spread of
AIDS* in America is uncovered and documented by extremely painstaking efforts on the part
of workers at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health
(NIH).
AIDS* and society - Because of the way in which it is spread among the early cases in
America, the disease will mistakenly be regarded by the general population as the "gay
disease." This will lead to a great deal of social hysteria, gross discrimination, behavioral
reform and, later, to strong civil rights activism and many theatrical pieces. The facts about
the disease which emerge early on are that it is apparently always fatal and has a disastrously
long incubation period (possibly as long as ten years) in which the victim has no idea that he
is infected. It is only gradually that medical evidence reveals that the virus can only be spread
through sharing bodily fluids (essentially blood and sexual intercourse). The American blood
supply has already become contaminated before this is discovered and hemophiliacs (people
who suffer from a condition in which their blood does not clot) are the first large group to
suffer mass infection through this means. It is only gradually that drug addicts who share
needles and women who have had sex with bisexual men begin to be discovered as infected.
The last group to emerge are the babies born to infected women. The babies acquire the
disease in the womb or through drinking their mother's milk. All information will emerge
gradually and suffer from the distortion of panic and religious and political pundits who
regard the disease as divine punishment for "sinners."
Theatre
In the United States, the Pulitzer* Prize play this year is last year's development of the
women's movement, 'night, Mother*, by Marsha Norman*. Sam Shepard* opens another play,
Fool for Love*.
In Britain the poetic work of T. S Eliot* is turned into a fascinating musical, Cats*, with
music by Andrew Lloyd Webber*. This one will cross the Atlantic to the United States and
run for a very, very long time. Despite the exotic costumes and makeup of the cat characters
and the setting of a trash heap, the strong characterizations contending with harsh living
appeal to contemporary audiences. This one gets under the audiences' skin and many return
again and again.
In Italy, the prominent director, Giorgio Strehler*, (one of the founders of the internationally
famous Piccolo Theatre* of Milan) becomes the principal director for Theattre de l'Europe*.
He is credited with restoring the works of Goldoni and Pirandello to the Italian stage.
1984
Society
Natural disasters this year include typhoon Ike, which leaves 1,363 dead in the southern
Philippines; floods, which hit Tulsa, Oklahoma (13) and South Korea (200). Terrorism and
political mayhem this year are seen in the assassination of the Prime Minister of India (Indira
Ghandi) by two of her bodyguards. In the Middle East, the Iran-Iraq War* is dragging on and
Iraq starts using chemical weapons (poison gas). This makes a world-wide stink since
everybody has signed agreements not to use this stuff. Terrorism is not confined to political
acts. In a California McDonald's restaurant 21 people are killed by a man spraying automatic
weapon fire for no discernable reason. The urge to open fire on a crowd of people will be seen
more than once.
In the Soviet Union another hard-line leader, Andropov, dies.
In the United States, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) admits that it mined Nicaraguan
harbors. This illegal act sets off a storm in Congress and they issue a condemnation of the
action. There is finally a settlement between the American veterans of the Viet Nam war and
seven chemical companies who made the herbicide Agent Orange. The public also gets a
ruling by a federal judge in Salt Lake City that the US government was negligent in aboveground testing of nuclear weapons in Nevada between 1951 and 1962. What this means is that
there is an appalling amount of dangerous radiation hanging around in the dust over miles of
Nevada scrub. In the fall Reagan* defeats Mondale* and his running mate, Gerry Ferraro*,
(the first woman to run as the candidate of a major party) with the greatest Republican
landslide in history.
Theatre
In Britain it is evident how international theatre has become. One of this year's productions is
the British playwright Stoppard* translation of Largo Desolato* by Vaclav Havel*.
The South African playwright Athol Fugard* produces another powerful play, The Road to
Meca*.
In the United States, the Pulitzer* Prize play this year is David Mamet*'s Glengarry Glen
Ross*, which, like many popular plays, will also become a film, later. The multifaceted
American experience is evident in several plays this year such as Le Cage aux Folles* and
August Wilson's* Ma Rainey's Black Bottom*. This play of August Wilson* has benefitted
from being worked up at one of the best playwrighting centers. The O'Neill Center* in
Waterford, Connecticut (founded in 1963) holds an annual National Playwrights Conference*
(started in 1965). The National Critics Institute* (beginning in 1968) runs concurrently. The
playwright's institute provides selected new playwrights with a place and resources to work
on their scripts with the aid of professional actors, directors, and critics. Wilson* was able to
see his work grow through this center and through production at Yale* University before
bringing it to Broadway.
1985
Society
Natural disasters this year include a devastating cyclone leaving at least 10,000 dead in
Bangladesh, hurricane Juan kills 97 in the south east US, earthquakes in Chile (146 dead) and
a disastrous one that hits Mexico City, leaving 4,200 dead and much of the city in heaps of
rubble, a dam bursts in Northern Italy (361 dead).
Terrorism is very active. The Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro*, is hijacked and an
American passenger killed. Later the US will intercept the Egyptian plane flying the Palestine
Liberation Front terrorists to safety.
In the Soviet Union a third hard-line leader, Chernenko, dies. By now the harsh treatment of
dissent and the restriction on emigration are beginning to ease. The new General Secretary,
Mikhail Gorbachev*, is slowly but surely promoting the more open ideas of glastnost
(openess) and perestroika. This year he (Gorbachev*) appoints Boris Yeltsin* Moscow
Communist party boss.
In the United States, there is one of the first "Aid" concerts to raise money. This one is called
"Live Aid" and is a 17-hour rock concert that raises $70 million for starving people in Africa
by broadcasting on radio and TV to 150 countries. This type money-raiser for good causes
will become increasingly popular.
Theatre
In the United States, the Pulitzer* Prize play this year goes to a really strange musical, Sunday
in the Park with George*, with book by James Lapine* and music and lyrics by Stephen
Sondheim* that opened last year. It centers around the painting of Georges Seurat* and deals
with creativity and artistic vision. The operatic quality of this piece shows how far the musical
has stretched in this decade. The current more traditional and popular musical is Big River*
(centered, of course, around Huckleberry Finn and the Mississippi River.) The inevitable Neil
Simon* hit this years is Biloxi Blues*.
Peter Brook*, and his international troupe, have been working for five years and finally the
troupe is ready to put on that adaptation of the Indian classic Mahabarata* at the Fte
a'Avigon*. The production goes on to performances in the Stone Theatre at Petroupoulis
(Greece) and will continue to tour internationally. Eventually a video of it will appear on
Public Television.
1986
Society
Man-made disaster creates this years major headlines. Although there is a nuclear material
accident in Oklahoma this January (one killed, 100 hospitalized,) it is the April accident at the
Russian Chernobyl* nuclear plant (about 60 miles from Kiev in the Soviet Union) that scares
everybody. The cooling system fails, the core overheats and there is a big fire. There is fallout contamination that spreads all over Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. It's not until the
radiation is discovered in Sweden that the USSR is forced to admit they had the accident. The
international community really gets peeved at the Soviets for not cluing them in on the event
and the extent of it. The Soviets finally accept help in controlling the fire and helping the
victims. Vegatables and animals all across Eastern Europe and Scandanavia are affected and
kept from market, in some cases for several years. This leads to increased opposition to the
use of nuclear power all over the world. The "Green" political parties are among the leaders in
this opposition.
Terrorism continues. In Chile, President Ugarte*'s motorcade is attacked by rebels armed with
bazookas, grenades and rifles. He escapes unharmed. In Stockholm the Swedish Premier (Olaf
Palme) is shot and killed. The most public terrorist act is a Lybian-instigated bombing of a
discotheque in West Berlin. This affects US military stationed there and will have
repercussions.
Out in the Pacific there is still trouble in the Philippines. President Marcos* escapes from the
Philippines (with his wife and some of her thousands of pair of shoes) and rushes off to seek
refuge in Hawaii. He is busy running from charges of massive election fraud. He is succeeded
by Corazon Aquino* (the widow of the assassinated opposition leader.) Despite her popularity
and much good will, the country's problems will continue.
In the United States a disturbing matter begins to emerge as news leaks out that the executive
branch of the government (through the CIA) has been sending spare parts and ammunition to
Iran. This is the beginning of what will come to be known as Irangate* (or the Iran-contra*
affair.) It turns out that (counter to international law and to the specific dictates of Congress)
military hardware has been sold to Iran and the profits from these sales has been used to
provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels. Since the Congress specifically prohibited
sending any aid to the contras, this news rocks the Reagan* administration. The affair will
occupy the attention of the nation for the next year or so. This year is the first time the US
officially observes Martin Luther King Day on January 20. The bad news is the explosion of
the Challenger space shuttle, just after take-off, killing six astronauts and Christa McAuliffe, a
New Hampshire teacher. This raises a big stink about how NASA has cut corners and slacked
off on safety problems. Reagan* reacts to the Libyan bombing in West Berlin by issuing an
executive order banning trade and travel with Libya, freezing their assets in US banks
anywhere, ordering all American out, and bombing selected targets in Tripoli and Benghazi,
Libya. AIDS* is obviously becoming a national problem. The government has documented
21,517 cases with 11,713 deaths. They claim deaths will increase tenfold in the next ten years.
The drug-use business is so bad that Congress passes anti-drug laws and the US joins Bolivia
in raiding cocaine processing hideouts.
Theatre
In the United States, Neil Simon* continues his string of hits with Broadway Bound*. The
minority life experience reaches Broadway an the hit play, M. Butterfly* by the AsianAmerican playwright David Henry Hwang*. This is a really strange story involving a French
man and a Chinese actor, based on a real experience.
Although the South African Athol Fugard* is better known in theatre circles, there are other
important African playwrights. In Nigeria the author and playwright Wole Soyinka* (1924 -)
is awarded the Nobel Prize* for Literature for the body of her work, including last year's play,
A Play of Giants*.
1987
Society
Natural disasters this year include typhoon Nina, killing 650 in the Philippines and an
earthquake in Ecuador (4,000 dead). Terrorism continues as the Lebanese Premier (Rashid
Karami) is killed by a bomb blast aboard his helicopter and the PLO military chief (Khalil
Wazir) is gunned down by Israeli commandos in Tunisia.
In the Soviet Union the General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev*, is into economic and social
reform. In December he signs an historic treaty eliminating short and medium range missiles
from Europe (the INF treaty.) Meanwhile, that Moscow party boss, Yeltsin*, loses his
position because he infuriates the hard-liners and criticizes Gorbachev* for moving too slowly
in reform. However, his day will come soon. He is elected this year to the Congress of
People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet where he becomes the leader of the liberal
opposition.
In the United States, things are not going too well. After six years of economic prosperity
there still seems to be no way to control the high budget deficits. This year Reagan* produces
the first trillion-dollar budget. "Safe sex" to avoid contracting AIDS* is evident in the rising
prominence of condom ads in American media. The Congress is busy with all sorts of
committees and commissions (like the Tower Commission) investigating that "Irangate*" (or
the Iran-contra*) business. They find Reagan* confused and uninformed [it will not be known
until 1994 that he has Alzheimers disease]. They settle on a bunch of other people, especially
the CIA director William Casey (who is down with a cancerous brain tumor and dies during
the investigation) and much of the National Security Council people. Since the congressional
hearings are televised there is a great media sensation, especially when Oliver North* (Lt.
Col.) testifies. One of those involved (Robert McFarlane,* former National Security Advisor)
attempts suicide, and another (White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan) resigns. In an
attempt to keep international oil moving despite the Iran-Iraq war, the US has been escorting
vessels in the Persian Gulf. In May an Iraqi warplane missile hits the frigate USS Stark,
killing 37 sailors. The Iraqis call it an accident and our navy finds the Stark's officers
negligent. In October the Stock Market crashes, dropping a record 508 points, 22.6 percent.
Reagan* and Gorbachev* sign a really terrific agreement that calls for dismantling all US and
USSR missiles with a 300 to 3,400-mile range. They also plan to meet in Moscow in 1988.
Both nations are feeling the economic pinch of pursuing the "cold war."
Theatre
In the United States, there can be no doubt that what used to be "Alternative" theatre is now
mainstream. The Pulitzer* Prize play this year is another success from the Afro-American
experience, Fences*, by August Wilson*. The feminist experience shows up in Frankie and
Johnny at the Claire de Lune*, by Marsha Norman*. The Chicano experience reaches
Broadway in Roosters*, by Milcha Sanchez-Scott*. The more traditional experience is
reflected in Langford Wilson's* Burn This*.
In Britain the popular playwright Alyn Ayckbourn* (who had his first success back in 1967)
turns from his usual comedy vein to tragic satire in Woman in Mind *.
1988
Society
Natural disasters this year include earthquakes on the India/Nepal border (1,000 dead), the
China/Burma border (1,000) and the worst one which decimates towns in northwest Armenia
(55,000 dead). In the United States the problem is the worst drought in more than 50 years
and at least half the nation's agricultural counties are declared disaster areas. This leads to
fires that destroy some 4 million acres of forest in the west.
Terrorism continues as the Columbian Liberal Party presidential candidate (Luis Carlos
Galan) is killed by the Medellin drug cartel at a campaign rally in Bogota. The event that
shakes up everybody is the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which explodes over
Lockerbie, Scotland. The terrorists seek (and are given) asylum in Libya. All that fighting in
the Persian Gulf makes for some confusion and an American ship (the USS Vincennes) fires a
missile which downs a commercial Iranian airline, killing 290. This is not good and the TV
images are full of floating civilian bodies bobbing in the Gulf.
In the Soviet Union, Gorbachev* gets the support of the Communist Party for that INF treaty
and pledges to cut the military budget. He also begins withdrawal of Soviet troops from that
disastrous civil war in Afghanistan. Politically, Gorbachev* is elected president of the USSR.
[This post isn't much of a much at this time.]
In Poland, Solidarity* is legalized and free election are about to be held.
In the United States, illegal immigrants (mostly from south of the border) are a real problem
and amnesty is granted about 1.4 million this year. There are also a lot of economic problems,
including a securities company (Drexel Burnham Lambert) that pleads guilty to law violations
and pays $650 million in penalties. One of the executives (Michels R. Milken) will be
indicted next year on 98 counts of violations of federal securities and racketeering. Ronald
Reagan* has served his last allowable term and his vice president (1981-89), George Bush*,
wins the presidential election.
Theatre
In the United States, the Pulitzer* Prize play this year is the delightful play of aging,
companionship and dignity, Driving Miss Daisy* by Alfred Uhry*. The actors (Morgan
Freeman, as the patient "driver," and Jessica Tandy as Miss Daisy) will also play the same
roles in the movie. The interconnections among theatre, film and television are rapidly turning
these (once very different activities) into one great creative enterprise which appears in
various guises. An interesting variation on the typical play involves two people reading, Love
Letters*, by A. R. Gurney*.
In Britain, that master of word-play, Tom Stoppard*, has a new production, Hapgood*. The
most exciting work of the year is the new musical created by the RSC*, Les Misrables*. This
will go on to become one of the most popular international hits. Its revolutionary air will stir
ardent response in Eastern Europe. The successful Phantom of the Opera* by Andrew Lloyd
Webber* opens in the United States. It will tour and remain popular for years.
1989
Society
Natural disasters include Hurricane Hugo which sweeps up the United States' southeastern
seaboard in September 21 and 22, leaving billions of dollars in devastation. South Carolina is
among the hardest hit. Shortly after, during the start of the third game of the World Series at
San Francisco's Candlestick Park, an earthquake strikes the Bay area. There is massive
property damage and 62 deaths, most of these are caused when the top level of an Oakland
freeway collapses onto the level below.
Man-made disasters are headed by the Exxon Valdez oil spill on March 24th. The huge oil
tanker hits Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound. This spill (in a few days it had
spread 45 miles) is a terrible ecological disaster, affecting sea life and the salmon run for
years.
The Soviet Union completes withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan in February. In an
election which actually has competing candidates, the Soviet people choose a new Congress.
By this year, Gorbachev* has become one of the most popular political figures in the world
and is generally regarded as the person primarily responsible for ending the "Cold War."
Politically he has beefed up the post of president and is elected this year to this new and more
powerful position.
Europe is in a tumult of disintegrating communist states. The first free election in Poland
since the communist takeover brings Solidarity* to power. In the fall, the failure of Marxist
economies is obvious in Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania.
The Communist monopoly falls and demands for democracy are heard all over. In November
the East German government opens the Berlin Wall. People are streaming into the West,
looking for better economic opportunities. The lasting image of people chipping away bits of
the Berlin Wall for souvenirs is played and replayed on television around the world.
China provides the other set of lasting images this year as pro-democracy demonstrators fill
Tienanmen Square with their own statue of liberty and great crowds of students. As the whole
world watches these television images follow on the heels of similar celebrations across
Europe, the Chinese Army rolls in to crush the democratic movement.
In the United States, there are a lot of high government people in trouble for greed and
misconduct. The House Speaker (Jim Wright) and the House Majority whip (Tony Coehlho)
both resign. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Jack Kemp) admits that his
predecessor (Samuel Pierce) seems to have lost some $2 billion in fraud and mismanagement.
Savings and Loan institutions are failing right and left and the Congress passes legislation to
rescue the industry. The bill will provide $166 billion over ten year to close or merge the
insolvent S&Ls. They figure the whole ugly thing will cost the taxpayers $400 billion over 30
years. What this means is that it will no doubt cost a great deal more. The economic outlook is
made more gloomy when the stock market drops again in October. President Bush* is having
big trouble with rising budget deficits. He breaks his "no new taxes" pledge and accepts a tax
package designed to reduce the deficit by $490 billion in five years. It won't. He is busy being
strong in foreign affairs and orders the invasion of Panama to capture and depose Manuel
Noriega*. The whole affair is somewhat illegal, but Noriega* had tossed out the legally
elected government and seems to be deeply involved in the drug trade, so there isn't too much
controversy. The Panamanians who get shot at in the process and have their businesses blown
up are not very sympathetic, but, on the average, it seems to work out fairly well and
Noriega* is taken to be tried in U.S. courts as a drug dealer. American society is beginning to
be involved in a bitter internal controversy about abortion. This year Pennsylvania passes
severe restrictions on abortion. Throughout the country there is progressive violence against
doctors, clients and clinics that provide abortion services. So far the arson and bombings have
not resulted in loss of life but the nineties will get worse.
Theatre
In the United States, the Pulitzer* Prize for a play this year goes to one of those playwrights
who have benefited by the women's theatre movement, Wendy Wasserstein*'s The Heidi
Chronicles*. The Afro-American playwright continues his string of hits as The Piano Lesson*
by August Wilson* opens this year (and will win the Pulitzer* next year).
The women's movement is best represented by Constance Congden*'s Tales of the Lost
Formicans*. This one deals with womens' frustrations and anger, and what it seems like to
feel isolated in a world that appears to be controlled by aliens.
Afterword
The 80s seem incredible in retrospect. Politically the decade opened with Communist harsh
restriction of emigration and treatment of dissent coupled with the Russian invasion of
Afghanistan. It ends with the collapse of the communist bloc and their headlong plunge into
democratic reform. The active terrorism seems to be simmering down to a lower level, no
longer given to bombing airplanes and kidnapping cruise ships.
On the other hand, personal safety has never seemed more threatened. International drug
traffic spirals out of control spawning gang warfare that spills over into more peaceful streets.
Economic times are perilous and random, senseless assaults become commonplace. The world
seems a perilous and unknowable miasma.
The theatre is truly international. More and more plays are toured and reworked in many
countries. Plays from authors from many cultures and many different life experiences are
available and produced in other countries. The very different acting styles from different
cultures are being shared, compared, and synthesized. As quickly as theatre has a successful
production, it is transformed into a movie or television piece and made available to an even
wider audience.
Even more influential than the international theatre production is the pervasive spread of
television. The space programs have spawned television transponders stationed around the
globe. It is now not merely possible, but routine, that television images can reach any spot on
earth. The programs that fill the world are at least eighty percent American made. While this
is somewhat upsetting to many countries who would like to see their own culture fill their
own air waves, it does tend to provide the world with a common vocabulary of images, ideas
and controversies.
It is becoming more noticible that the American musical is running second to the British
musical and that Broadway is having more and more revivals of old musicals and old plays.
This may simply be a nostalgia period, or it may indicate that musicals have become so very
expensive that backers are afraid to invest in anything new.
go forward to Chapter 23
or go to Home
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE The 90s

Technology Triumphant Theatre becomes global and
blends with Movies and Television.
Introduction
World Events
The Western world is preoccupied with economic (the world-wide recession,) and
environmental concerns, the dissolution of communism and communist states, specifically the
disintegration of Soviet Union (Empire) and of Yugoslavia. The Berlin wall comes down and
Europe is faced with the re-unification of Germany, which is not only a cultural shock, it is a
financial nightmare. We also have the rise of the increasingly organized European Economic
Community which is moving ever-so carefully toward a united states of Europe. They are
even building a tunnel under the English Channel to link Britain with the continent.
Considering how we started this period (in the 1940s,) this is a truly historic event. Then there
is the problem of Iraq, under Sadam Hussein,* wanting to control all that oil. He precipitates
the Gulf Crisis and the second UN sanctioned war to liberate Kuwait.
The United States now becomes the only remaining super power, which means the US is
stuck with having to respond to every international problem that crops up. The decade begins
under President George Bush* (1989-93,) with budget deficits and insolvent S & Ls (Savings
and Loans gone bust.) As the decade was about to begin (12/89) President Bush* sent the
military in to overthrow Noriega in Panama. Economic problems plague the whole world
during the first part of the decade. Famine spreads in Africa and crops up in the USSR and
other places. In the United States there will be a significant move by the "gay" community to
get civil rights like everybody else. The abortion controversy will get angrier and the "Prolife" factions become more violent and take to murder in the streets.
The USSR is having a very difficult time with the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania) who want to be independent countries again, just like they were before the Second
World War, when the USSR took them over. These countries will be the break in the dam that
will lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Theatre Events
It's always difficult to tell what will be theatrically important when the dates are so close to
our own time. The obvious feature is the growing international and inter-media nature of
theatre as global television by satellite becomes dominant. The catch-word of the decade is
"performance." The world is inundated by American television and films to such an extent
that some countries (notably France) are passing laws to ensure that at least thirty percent of
what appears on their television is produced in their own country. To say that American
culture has become internationally dominant may be an understatement.
Theatrically, in the United States, much of the first half of this decade is devoted to revivals,
of musicals as well as plays. This seems to be an economic necessity in recession times and,
perhaps, something of a significant effort to keep in contact with the mainstream of this
century's theatrical past. Some of the noticeable new factors are that a number of women have
emerged as prominent playwrights, (Wendy Wasserstein* is a good example) and the 90s
seem to be the decade that "gay" theatre becomes mainstream. Despite the progress, the
American theatre is in some financial trouble out in the country as well as on Broadway. The
Reagan years and Republican administration's antipathy toward the arts have depleted public
arts support, and the recession and changes in the tax code have cut into arts support by
business and corporate patrons. The multiculturally progressive Los Angles Theater Center is
forced by economic exigency to close.
1990
Society
West Germany is moving rapidly to reunite with East Germany. Meanwhile, in August, Iraq
moves on Kuwait, claiming that they have really owned this land all along. The UN Security
Council insists that this is armed aggression and that Iraq must withdraw. They don't and the
UN passes resolutions calling for embargoing most trade. A US-led coalition begins
assembling forces in the Arabian peninsula and in November the UN authorizes the use of
force after the deadline of January 15.
Trouble in the Balkans: In Yugoslavia, the Communist party gives up its monopoly on
political power this year. Ethnic tension among (and even within) the various republics
[Remember that Yugoslavia was a patchwork of various political units put together by the
winners of the First World War.] breaks out the moment the control of the Communist party
disappears. Things will get a lot worse. In Romania, the anti-government violence that broke
out last December is spreading all over the country. Army units join the uprising and the
former ruler, (Nicolae Ceasescu) is captured, tried and executed. The National Salvation Front
wins the succeeding elections, but there is still a lot of intimidation and violence around. In
Bulgaria the National Assembly brings the Communist party's monopoly to an end. In
August, the National Assembly elects the leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (Zhelyu
Zhelev) president. The Nobel* Peace Prize this year goes to Mikhail Gorbachev*.
Theatre
In the United States, the nonprofit resident Steppenwolf Theatre of Chicago stages The
Grapes of Wrath* and takes it to Broadway to win the 1990 Tony* for Best Play. The play is
adapted from Steinbeck's book by Frank Galati*. August Wilson*'s new play, The Piano
Lesson*, Peter Shaffer*'s Lettice and Lovage* and the musicals City of Angels* (Craig
Lucas)* and Grand Hotel* with award-winning choreography by Tommy Tune* make the
spring Broadway season sparkle. The fall season is memorable for Shadowlands* by William
Nicholson.* The biggest theatrical news is the closing of A Chorus Line* after a run of 15
years. Performance artists are quite successful this year as Eric Bogosian* does Sex, Drugs,
Rock'n'Roll* and Spalding Gray* delights audiences at Lincoln Center with Monster in a
Box*. The recession is really knocking the resident theatres for a loop. In 1980 there had been
80 members of the League of Resident Theatres*. This year there are only 68. More and more
theatre artists are having to turn to movies and television to make their living
1991
Society
The big natural disaster this year is the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. It
pops off in June and forces the US to evacuate Clark AFB. It inundates a wide territory and,
later, this (together with the failure of the Philippines to renew the lease) will cause the US
Navy to close down their installation there and at Subic Bay. A Japanese volcano, Mount
Unzen, erupts, killing 38. February earthquakes cause havoc in Afghanistan (400 dead) and
Pakistan (300). A terrific cyclone decimates Bangladesh leaving 125,000 dead and millions
homeless, again. Tropical storm Thelma causes floods in the Philippines (3,400 dead). Irish
violence continues as the Provisional IRA fires three mortar shells at the Prime Minister's
home (10 Downing Street) in London. In India, an election-campaign stop ends in the
assassination of the former Prime Minister and leader of the Congress Party (Rajiv Ganghi).
The Persian Gulf War*: The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq leads to the second ever, UN Police
action, after the January 15th deadline set by the Security Council. Om January 17th an
intense air war to destroy Iraq's forces begins. The media covers each and every event from
Iraq as well as from all other points in the Middle East. Every day and night, television
viewers all over the globe, can watch Iraqi "Scud" missiles aimed at Israel (a non-combatant)
being partially destroyed by "Patriot" interceptors and see the night sky over Baghdad like up
with incoming missiles and anti-aircraft fire. There is widespread fear that Iraq will use
chemical weapons (as they did in the Iran-Iraq War) on Israel and on the UN forces.
Fortunately, they don't. We see endless real-life footage of "smart bombs" zeroing in on
bunker doors. On February 24, the land forces move against Iraq and four days later it's all
over. Iraq is defeated and Kuwait liberated. However, the Iraqis torch Kuwait's oil fields as
they leave and it will take a very long time to put out the fires. The land and water pollution
by intentional and accidental oil spills in the Gulf and along the beaches, as well as the air
pollution from the fires will create the biggest environmental mess humans have made with
petroleum up to this time. The smoke from the fires is visible from space and stretches into
the Indian Ocean. There are well over 100,000 Iraqi military deaths and only a few hundred
UN coalition casualties. Civilian deaths in the fighting zones in Kuwait and in Iraq are never
known. There is an aftermath of civil unrest in Iraq with the Kurds (in the north) and the
Shiites (in the south) trying to get some autonomy. They are subdued by Hussein militarily.
Many of the Iraqi Kurds cross into Turkey and Iran. In Yugoslavia, several of the Republics
(notably Slovenia and Croatia) are trying to force Serbia into an agreement creating a loose
federation. From here the fighting will escalate, while Europe and the UN try to figure out
how to stop it. Later Macedonia declares its independence from Yugoslavia. Albania holds its
first free parliamentary elections this year. They re-elect communists but the economy is
falling apart and they will hold elections again next year.
In the Baltic States, Lithuania has a non-binding plebiscite and they want to get out of the
Soviet Union. The six Warsaw Pact nations meet and agree to disband the alliance's military
structure.
The Soviet Union has a real struggle between the hard-liners and Gorbachev*. The Soviet
President is detained by their security forces in the Crimea as they attempt a coup d'tat.
Meanwhile the Russian President, Yeltsin*, is making a name for himself leading the
resistance against the failed coup. Gorbachev* has resigned from the Communist Party and
the Supreme Soviet votes to curtail the activities of the party. In September, the new Soviet
provisional executive body formally recognizes the independence of the Baltic republics of
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. As the Soviet Union crumbles, Yeltsin* (the leader of Russia)
and the leaders of the Ukraine and Byelorussia sign an agreement to establish the
Commonwealth of Independent States to replace the USSR.
In Haiti, the newly elected President (Aristide) is overthrown by a military coup. This will
lead to problems.
In the United States, the economic mess caused by the S&L crisis spirals out of control and
President Bush* signs legislation giving $30 billion to the government agency set up to
handle it (the Resolution Trust Corporation.) This also provides another $48 billion running
money to help the RTC take over bad assets. Nationally there are 725 bankruptcy filings this
year and 169 failed bank closings. There are increasing numbers of people being laid off (this
year General Motors eliminates 70,000 jobs). President Bush* nominates another AfroAmerican, Clarence Thomas, to replace retiring Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. In
the Senate hearings there are charges of sexual harassment that reverberate throughout the
country and provide enormously influential and controversial TV viewing.
Theatre
In the United States, The musical scene is getting bleaker with the big American entry The
Will Rogers Follies*. The British production of Miss Saigon* (a high-tech, pop-opera epic,
put on by Cameron Mackintosh* of Cats* fame with music and lyrics by Schnberg and
Boublil of Les Misrables*) is not much better, but it stirs up more interest. Neil Simon*'s hits
continue with Lost In Yonkers*. John Guare* produces a much more interesting play, Six
Degrees of Separation*.
1992
Society
Famine in Africa and farmers losing their farms in America evoke more of those musical
events to raise money. "Farm Aid" started by Willie Nelson* becomes a regular event. The
African drought is compounded by total political dissolution in Somalia and the international
community has to provide military troops to make delivery of humanitarian aid possible. One
of the most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the United States (Hurricane Andrew) sweeps a
clean path across southern Florida and nicks Louisiana.
This is the year when full economic union is to take place among the 12-member European
Community* (EC). There is also supposed to be greatly increased political integration.
However, progress is slow and the treaties to make all this happen keep running into trouble
here and there. Fortunately, the whole unification business does move forward slowly.
In former Yugoslavia things go from bad to worse and there is constant fighting among the
ethnic and religious groups. The Republics of Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia are trying to get as
much territory from each other as they can, while making every effort to eliminate Moslem
residents. The UN is unable to get them to stop and the killing, bombing and general "ethnic
cleansing" (killing everybody who isn't like you) accelerates. Most of the news stories come
to the rest of the world from the historic city of Sarajevo in the center of Bosnia-Herzegovina
which seems to be the perpetual target of everybody.
In the fall, the United States engages in its favorite occupation, the presidential election. To
everyone's surprise President Bush* loses and the young Governor of Arkansas, William
(Bill) Clinton* (1993- ), wins. The lame-duck president sends troops off to join the other
countries sent by the UN to Somalia to help stem the tide of total starvation. "Operation
Hope" is under way.
Theatre
In Sarajevo, amidst the bombing and machine-gun fire, there are regular theatrical
performances for the population. The production is the same, month in and out. They are
putting on the American rock-musical, Hair*.
In the United States, the most (and perhaps only) interesting theatrical event is the arrival on
Broadway of Dublin's Abbey Theatre production, Dancing at Lughnasa* fresh from a
triumphal stop in London's West End. This funny, lyrical memory play is by Brian Friel*.
With next most interesting ratings going to the breakthrough gay Falsettos*. This year marks
the beginning of limited run productions at the Belasco Theatre by the new National Actors
Theatre*, (started by Tony Randall*) with a revival of Arthur Miller*'s The Crucible*. The
season begins with 28,000 season subscribers, which may indicate an audience in search of
theatrical fare. Among the off-Broadway theatres, the New York Theatre Workshop*
continues to stage new and intriguing plays the with the US premier of Caryl Churchill*'s The
Mad Forest*.
1993
Society
Natural disasters this year are almost too many to count. The United States suffers from
incredible floods across the entire central river plain from the Missouri to most of the
Mississippi basin. Rail, barge and even truck traffic stops in July and August. In the Pacific
there are successive Typhoons striking the Philippines and even Japan. Cholera outbreaks
sweep through northern South America.
On the international scene Somalia is still giving the UN forces a hard time. Some two dozen
nations are involved in "peace-keeping." As the food and medicine begins to reach most of
the inhabitants, the various factions start shooting at UN troops. The Pakistanis are the first to
suffer casualties, followed rapidly by the US and others. For a time it looks as though the UN
will have to fight one of the major political factions, but diplomacy seems to be making
progress. The opposite is true as the former Yugoslavia is still an incredible war zone among
the Serbians, Bosnians, the Croatians and the Moslem faction. "Peace-keeping" forces are not
having any more luck here than diplomacy.
One of the big surprises on the international scene is the sudden appearance of diplomatically
negotiated progress in the middle east. The Israelis and the Palestinians are actually agreeing
to some things. It begins to look as if the Gaza Strip (and other places) will soon be under
Palestinian control.
Meanwhile in Russia, hard-line parliament members are keeping President Yeltsin* from
pursuing much in the way of economic and political reform. Finally, in late September,
Yeltsin* has a big fight with the parliament and declares an election. The parliamentary hardliners refuse and the violent fight is on. Yeltsin* tells them to go home, some refuse and hole
up in the "white house" (the parliament building.) Their leader calls for armed bands to take
over the media and government buildings. Finally Yeltsin* calls in the army to restore order
and remove the guys barricaded up in the "white house." Things get bloody and the most
vicious street fighting since the 1918 revolution goes on. The Army finally shells the
parliament and the rebels are killed or captured. This will affect the future success of
democratic Russian reform and their movement toward a market economy. Whether for better
or worse is not yet clear.
In the United States, William (Bill) Clinton* (1993- ) is sworn in as the President. He is busy
trying to pass a budget, universal health care, and generally cope with the country's problems
(like no money and the big floods) while dealing with the stuff his predecessor left him (like
the recession which needs turning around, getting Congress to pass NAFTA (North American
Free Trade Agreement), getting the troops out of Somalia, etc.) Things seem pretty
unsatisfactory when reports come out like the one saying that some 41 percent of the
American work force is functionally illiterate in relation to the job needs of today. There is a
definite mood in the country for turning things around if somebody can only figure out how to
do it. The Civil Rights arguments are shifting to the "gay" revolution. Spurred on by the
AIDS* epidemic and the need for political power (power which was reflected in the elections
last fall), the gay community has presidential support for changing the rules concerning gays
in the military. This becomes a tricky battle this year. Several Civil Rights objectives include
equal rights in housing and the elimination of job discrimination. A back-lash develops,
bringing a constitutional amendment in Colorado specifically denying that gays have any
need for such legal protection. This controversy as well as the abortion matter tends to arouse
violent reactionary passions and people are killed (a clinic Doctor is shot and a gay sailor
murdered). Actually, AIDS* is becoming more heterosexual every day, with the teen-age
population making up the group that is currently spreading it most rapidly. There is still no
cure and no vaccine or even satisfactory treatment in sight.
Theatre
In the United States, the big event is Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches*, a
comedy-drama by a newcomer, Tony Kushner.* It has had initial stagings in Los Angeles and
London before its Broadway opening. The play is a dreamlike epic concerning various crises
in American society and is subtitled "Gay Fantasia on National Themes. It will recieve the
1993 Pulitizer Prize and four Tony* Awards. Meanwhile, Angels in America, Part 2:
Perestroika* is being prepared for opening next year. The other major dramatic event is
Wendy Wasserstein's* comedy, The Sisters Rosensweig*.
Musically the first big event is Kiss of the Spider Woman* (John Kander,* Fred Ebb* as the
songwriting team with Hal Prince* directing) , with a gay hero, but memorable for Tony
winning Chita Rivera*'s performance. The challenger in musicals is the rock-musical The
Who's Tommy* (adapted by director Des McAnuff* of La Jolla Playhouse* from the 1969
Pete Townshend* and The Who's rock opera). Meanwhile there are two musicals "on the
road" in preparation for next year's Broadway openings. The most widely touted of these is
Andrew Lloyd Webber's* Sunset Boulevard* (which had its world premier in London this
summer) based on the suspense film. The other contender is the Disney Beauty and the Beast*
stage show of the animated film which premiered in Huston's Theatre Under the Stars*. It is
interesting that this period began with most smash movies being made from successful stage
shows and now the stage musicals are often made from films.
The resident theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival, is in trouble and the NYSF board gets
rid of JoAnne Akalaitis* and replaces her with the Afro-American George C. Wolfe* (but he's
so busy doing Angels in America, Part 2: Perestroika* that he can't get much going for NYSF
yet). Performance art is going strong with Anna Deavere Smith's* Twilight: Los Angeles
1992* at the Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum and later, on the East Coast at the McCarter
Theatre in Princeton, NJ. The work explores the riots following the Rodney King* verdict.
Jon Jory's* Humana Festival of New American Plays* at the Actors Theatre* of Louisville
produces Jane Martin's* Keely and Du*, a suspenseful play dealing with many facets of the
abortion issue. This one is so successful that it is restaged at the Hartford Stage Company*.
(Martin is a psuedonym). It is clear that contemporary events, which are brought into more
and more living rooms as daily television viewing, provide fertile ground for theatrical fare.
The line between reality and its examination in theatrical form is becoming almost invisible.
1994
Society
Natural disasters this year run to floods in the United States and Earthquakes in Japan.
Terrorism abounds in the Middle East as Israel and the PLO build a delicate agreement for
peace. Extremists on both sides resort to bombings and other violent events in attempts to
prevent peace from breaking out. Somalis degenerates and the UN gives up in disgust. Bosnia
continues to be a battlefield, mainly between the Bosnian Serbs and the Muslims. The year
ends with a tentative cease fire developed by that peripetatic peace-maker, Jimmy Carter*
who also put together a deal in North Korea to move that country toward Nuculeur
Theatre
In the United States, Andrew Lloyd Webber's* Sunset Boulevard* opens on Broadway. Tony
Kushner's* Angels in America, Part 2: Perestroika* fulfills the promise of Part 1.
1995
Society
Natural disasters at the beginning of this year tend toward earthquakes in Japan (more
devastating than usual, laying waste to the port of Kiobe) and floods in California.
Violent warfare continues in Bosnia and in that part of the old USSR striving to become
independent, in this case, Chechnya, which spends January becoming rubble under the
pounding of the Russian army.
In the United States this is the year of the resurgence of the Republican leadership in
Congress. Their agenda is essentially to cut government spending and this is a frightening
prospect for the arts. The seed money which trickled through the NEA (National Endowment
for the Arts*) has become essential in providing a base for every state's Arts Council. The
modest grants to established Arts companies have enabled them to provide ongoing
development and growth. The fear is that this congress will try to abolish public funding for
the arts in all forms, PBS, NEA and even the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Theatre
In the United States, the Republican Congress is determined to eliminate federal funding for
Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for
the Humanities. This sends tremors through all the arts organizations, especially the theatre.
America's arts organizations are continually embarrassed, in discussions with their
counterparts from other countries, by the fact that the United States is the only developed
country which does not support the arts as a part of its government funding. This projected
decrease in governmental support threatens all arts agencies throughout the country.
Afterword
In a world that is changing so rapidly, it is difficult to see clearly what the trends of the next
few years might be. Certainly the whole range of theatrical media is expanding and
developing with computer actors and virtual reality productions already being produced on
the internet and available for experiencing on the World Wide Web. This will, no doubt,
increase the demand for theatrical material. As economic times improve it is most likely that
increased theatrical production will accompany it. It has always been the case and so it seems
likely to continue despite governmental neglect.
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A HISTORY OF THEATRE

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next Chapter One or PartTwo

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The Last Pieces

PATTERN OF ANCIENT COMIC PLAY:

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back Theatre History

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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

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The Greek Notion Of Contest

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Meanwhile Things Progress

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The Mystery Religions

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The Athenian Polis

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The Birth Of Theatre

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The Theatre Building

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Aeschylus* Starts The Classical Period

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Aeschylus* (525-455 BCE)

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Sophocles* And The Changing Theatre

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Euripides* And The Crumbling State

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The Changing Hero*

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Aristophanes* - He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best

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back Theatre History

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